Elena Rybakina extended her winning streak to six matches after beating Mayar Sherif in two sets at the 2024 Madrid Open.
The Kazakhstani player started her 2024 clay season with a pretty impressive run at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where she was able to snap Swiatek's Stuttgart streak en route to the final.
In the final, she downed Marta Kostyuk easily to win the trophy, and that good play continued at the Madrid Open. This WTA 1000 event suits her style of play greatly because the ball flies really fast due to the altitude.
Her power is one of her biggest assets, along with her serve, which also benefits from the altitude, so her good play so far at the event shouldn't come as a huge surprise to anybody. Sherif is a clay specialist, but she's not on the same level as Rybakina.
Their only match before this one was an easy win for Rybakina, and this one was certainly like that as well. The first set featured only seven games, as Rybakina won it 6-1 in 46 minutes of play.
Sherif battled bravely, but she was largely overmatched by her opponent, who missed quite a few chances. Rybakina was only 2/8 on break points, which isn't a great mark, but she would improve upon that in the second set.
She converted her first break point in that one. Sherif had some chances in that one as she played a little bit better, but she wouldn't convert any of them.
Rybakina saved all her break points and was able to finish it off comfortably. The final score was 6-1, 6-4, and she moved on to the fourth round, where she'll face Sara Bejlek.
Bejlek is a pretty solid player but likely not good enough to trouble Rybakina seriously. Time will tell, but for now, Rybakina looks impressive.
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