The final set of the match between Ryabinka and Badosa went to a tie-break which was a back and forth affair for a while before the Spaniard finally took control.
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Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa had her work cut out for her in the round of 16 of the 2022 Stuttgart Open but she overcame the challenge of Elena Ryabinka on Thursday. The final set of the match went to a tie-break which was a back and forth affair for a while before the Spaniard finally took control. The scoreline at the end of the match was 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) in Badosa’s favour. She will face seventh seed Ons Jabeur in the quarter-final on Friday. Elsewhere, Maria Sakkari was forced to retire from her match against Laura Siegemund due to a physical issue in the second set. The Greek was not having a good match by any means as she was down a set to the unseeded German, who is a clay-court specialist. In the end, the scoreline read 6-4, 3-1, Siegemund having the higher figure in both.
Badosa and Ryabinka played out a fiery encounter that lasted two hours and 30 minutes. The Spaniard took a comfortable victory in the first set but in the second set, her intensity waned, while Rybakina improved her first-serve percentage from 41% to 72%. Despite this, Badosa was able to cut Rybakina’s 4-0 lead to 4-4 before the Kazakh gathered herself to cross the finish line. In the third set, the quality and length of the baseline duels improved, and Badosa won the majority of them as she went up 4-1. It was Rybakina’s turn to chip away at the lead this time, and there was nothing separating the two going into the tiebreak.
Badosa served two of her eight double faults in the tiebreak, but Rybakina was unable to capitalise. In response, the world no.19 made five of her 38 unforced errors, including a wide backhand on Badosa’s third match point. With the win, Badosa improved her record against Rybakina to 3-1, and she will face No. 7 seed Ons Jabeur in the quarterfinals.
Sakkari didn’t have a particularly good match to begin with, as she largely disappointed against a player she should have easily defeated. It’s becoming a pattern for Sakkari, who has a history of choking in big games and crumbling under pressure in general. Despite the fact that today was not a high-pressure match, the Greeks were unable to perform well.
Siegemund is a clay specialist who was competing in front of her home crowd, but she did not perform exceptionaly well. Well, neither did Sakkari, but she appeared to have a physical issue during the match, forcing her to retire in the second set. Sakkari was displeased, but it was pointless to continue because Siegemund was implied to be far superior. Sakkari was outplayed from the start, and the Greek will now concentrate on getting healthy in time for the remainder of the clay season.
