Elena Rybakina continues to play well at the 2024 Roland Garros, beating Elise Mertens in straight sets to advance to the fourth round.
The Kazakhstani player is one of the favorites for this event, and her play so far has confirmed why. She has not faced any issues in any of her matches so far, including this one, though Mertens did provide some stern opposition.
The opening set started a bit better for the Belgian player, as she looked quite good in the first few games. She even broke the fourth seed to take a 3-2 lead but couldn't hold it because Rybakina increased her level quickly, and once she did, she took over.
She's been known to have slow starts, which she fixes later on, and that's what happened in this match. Mertens hung on until 5-4, when she dropped her serve without winning a point in that game.
That was a bad finish to a set that started well for her, but not that surprising, as Rybakina has been circling her like a shark for a while. The second set didn't feature anything different as the 2022 Wimbledon champion quickly established dominance again, breaking at 2-1 to take a 3-1 lead.
From there, it was a rather simple cruise to the finish line. Rybakina didn't push too much, but she didn't need to. She's been very good at managing her matches like this, doing only the precise amount to win the match without pushing herself too much.
Overall, Rybakina's win against a tricky player who is known to play good tennis on clay was decent. The final score was 6-4, 6-2.
Elena Rybakina vs Elise Mertens Match Stats:
| Elena Rybakina | 6-4, 6-2 | Elise Mertens |
| 3 | Aces | 0 |
| 2 | Double Faults | 3 |
| 67% | First Serve % | 63% |
| 75% (27/36) | Points Won After First Serve % | 48% (14/29) |
| 44% (8/18) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 53% (9/17) |
| 83% (5/6) | Break Point Conversion | 67% (2/3) |
| 24 | Winners | 13 |
| 19 | Unforced Errors | 15 |
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