Rybakina Survives Early Scare To Advance In Doha Following Coach’s Suspension News
News
Elena Rybakina avoided adding her name to the list of players stunned at the 2025 Qatar Open. In the third round, she beat an inspired Rebecca Sramkova.
Only late last night, Rybakina learned the conclusion of the investigation into the behavior of her coach Stefano Vukov. He was suspended by the WTA after the investigation concluded.
After learning the news, it might have been difficult for the Kazakhstani player to focus on her performance in Doha, but she handled her third-round match well.
Rybakina started with an early break against Sramkova, leading 3-0 early in the match. But the Slovak player has been one of the breakthrough players of recent months, and she once again showcased her high level also in this match.
Sramkova won the Thailand Open in Hua Hin last year and also reached the final in Jiujiang, so it was not a huge surprise that she managed to stun Mirra Andreeva in the second round at the WTA 1000 event in Doha.
That match guaranteed her a match against Rybakina, who she had beaten in both of their previous meetings. And after overcoming an early 0-3 deficit, the score was tied at 3-3 in this match, and Sramkova was looking to add another victory against the Wimbledon champion.
Although she was able to level the score, the Slovak player still has a lot of inconsistency in her game, which is why she was immediately broken again and fell behind 3-5.
Rybakina was seemingly in control of the match, but that proved to be far from the truth only four points later. Sramkova broke to love, and at 4-5, she was on her serve again.
The Slovak player then faced three set points on her serve, and after she was able to save all of them, the first set had to be decided in a tie-break.
That was also the point in this match when Sramkova's dream came to an end. Rybakina dominated the tie-break, winning it 7-1, and she brought that level also to the second set.
The fifth seed won the first four games while losing only four points and leading 4-0 in the second set of the match. There weren't many ways Rybakina could have lost this match.
However, it wouldn't be the first time if she would have lost such a big lead. In her first match in Doha this year, the Kazakhstani player led 6-2, 5-0, and 40-15 against Peyton Stearns. Only a few moments later, the scoreboard suddenly showed 5-4 and 0-15, but Rybakina managed to refocus and win that match.
In this match, she didn't have a similar moment. The former Wimbledon winner controlled the remainder of the match against Sramkova, winning 7-6(1), 6-2. She reached the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open, and her opponent will be either the second-seeded Iga Swiatek or Linda Noskova.
