LONDON – Second seed Aryna Sabalenka battled past a determined Elena Rybakina 6-3 4-6 6-3 in the Wimbledon fourth round on Monday to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.
Rybakina broke Sabalenka in the opening game but the Kazakh, who came into the match having won a tournament-high 96% of her service games in the first three rounds, let her opponent off immediately as she failed to hold.
Belarusian Sabalenka grew in confidence as the contest on Court Three wore on, sending down two straight aces to go up 4-2 before clinching the first set when world number 20 Rybakina double-faulted.
Sabalenka needed three sets to overcome Rybakina durin…
Keep on reading: Sabalenka sees off Rybakina to reach Wimbledon quarters