Kazakh tennis player Elena Rybakina, ranked second in the world, has commented on the possibility of reducing the gap to WTA leader Aryna Sabalenka. After reaching the quarterfinals of the prestigious WTA-1000 tournament in Toronto, she has a chance to close the deficit to four points... reports the website infohub.kz.
"I try not to think about it, because I still have to win many matches," Rybakina was quoted as saying by Punto de Break.
The athlete emphasized that the quality of her own game and progress after a poor stretch on grass courts are more important to her now. "For me, the most important thing right now is to see that I continue to improve," she noted.
To reduce the gap to four points, Rybakina needs to win the tournament. Sabalenka has already finished her run in Toronto, losing in the fourth round to Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova (19) 6:7 (3:7), 6:4, 4:6. However, reaching the round of 16 guaranteed the Belarusian to retain the top spot after the event regardless of Rybakina's results.
Before the tournament, Sabalenka had 8,550 ranking points, while Rybakina had 8,056. The Kazakhstani is defending 390 points from last year's semifinal at the Canadian 'thousand' event.
On the previous day, Rybakina advanced to the quarterfinals in Toronto by defeating Russian Liudmila Samsonova (47) 6:4, 4:6, 6:4. In the deciding set, the Kazakhstani trailed 0-3 and was down two breaks, but managed to turn the match around. The match lasted 2 hours and 49 minutes.
In the quarterfinals, the world No. 2 will face four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka (13). The Japanese player defeated Canadian Leylah Fernandez (34) 6:4, 6:4 in the fourth round. This will be the first official meeting between Rybakina and Osaka.