Elena Rybakina, the world No. 2, showed rare frustration by throwing her racket after dropping the first set to Leylah Fernandez at the Stuttgart Open. The Kazakh player staged a comeback to win 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(8) in a nearly three-hour quarterfinal match. Rybakina advances to face Mirra Andreeva in the semifinals.
Elena Rybakina, often called the 'Ice Queen' for her composure, broke character during her quarterfinal match against Leylah Fernandez at the Stuttgart Open. In the first-set tiebreak, Rybakina miscued a backhand, handing Fernandez a 7-6 lead. Furious, she threw her racket onto the court, a rare display of anger from the two-time Grand Slam champion. The match lasted almost three hours as both players fought intensely. Fernandez broke Rybakina's serve three times, including once in the third set to lead 5-3 while serving for the victory. Rybakina saved two match points, broke back, held serve, and won the final-set tiebreaker 8-6. This victory gives Rybakina a 3-2 head-to-head edge over Fernandez. In her post-match interview, Rybakina admitted to early struggles. 'Nothing really worked. Especially in the beginning there was a lot of frustration. I was just going downhill. The serve was not going,' she said. 'Somehow I found fight in me... It was a really difficult day.' She added that she tried to stay positive despite missed chances to close earlier. As the top seed, Rybakina entered in the round of 16, defeating Diana Schnaider 6-3, 6-4. She had skipped Kazakhstan's Billie Jean King Cup tie against Canada to delay her clay-court season. Next, she faces Mirra Andreeva in the semifinals, where she trails 1-2 in their head-to-head.