Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina beat Spanish lucky loser Cristina Bucsa 6-3 7-5 in 1 hour and 30 minutes at the Adelaide International extending her winning streak to six consecutive matches.
Rybakina saved the first seven break points she faced and converted her first two break points to break in the eighth game to seal the first set 6-3. The Kazakh player broke again in the second game to open up a 2-0 lead. Bucsa broke back on her seventh break point of the match in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3, as Rybakina netted a volley. Rybakina broke again in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead, but she had to save another break point with a backhand winner when she was serving for the win.
Rybakina hit her fifth ace on her second match point to set up a quarter final match against Elaterina Alexandrova, who beat Veronika Kudemertova 6-4 6-4.
Rybakina dropped only 15 games in five matches en route to her sixth career title in Brisbane last week.
Number 2 seed Jessica Pegula beat lucky loser Bernarda Pera 4-6 6-2 6-3 after 2 hours and 12 minutes to advance to the quarter finals.
Pegula converted just one of the ten break points in the first set in the first game of the opening set and held serve In the second game to open up a 2-0 lead. Pera broke twice in the fourth and tenth games to win the first set 6-4.
Pegula hit 11 winners to 6 unforced errors in the second set and broke twice in the third and fifth games to open up a 5-1 lead. Pera saved two set points, as she was serving to stay in the set in the seventh game. Pegula served out the second set at deuce in the next game.
Pegula broke serve at love in the first game of the third set. Pera broke back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3.
Pegula earned a break in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead in the third set and saved five break points to hold serve for 5-3. Pegula broke for the sixth time in the match in the ninth game to close out the third set 6-3.
Pegula has improved to 2-0 in her head-to-head matches against 69thranked Pera after beating her compatriot at the 2022 Australian Open.
Pegula has a win-loss record of 2 wins to 1 loss this year. At last week’s United Cup she beat Ajla Tomljanovic but she was upset by Katie Boulter.
Pegula set up a quarter final against former Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who came back from a set down to beat Katerina Siniakova 2-6 6-3 6-2.
Pegula beat Pavlyuchenkova 1-6 6-3 6-2 in their only previous head-to-head match in the second round of the 2021 edition of the Canadian Open in Montreal.
Jelena Ostapenko came through a tight three-set match to beat Caroline Garcia 6-4 5-7 6-4 in 2 hours and 41 minutes. Ostapenko saved seven break points and earned her first break in the third game to win the opening set 6-4. Garcia earned an early break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Ostapenko broke back in the ninth game, but Garcia broke again in the 12th game to seal the second set 7-5. Ostapenko broke serve in the first game of the third set. Garcia pulled back on serve in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Ostapenko converted her fourth break point in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and sealed the win on her fourth match point.
Ostapenko set up a quarter final match against Marta Kostyuk who beat Taylor Townsend 6-3 2-6 6-4 after 2 hours and 14 minutes. Kostyuk earned two breaks to race out to a 4-0 lead. Townsend pulled one of the two breaks back in the fifth game. Kostyuk broke for the third time for 5-1. Townsend converted her third break point in the seventh game for 2-5, but Kostyuk served out the first set 6-2 on her second set point. Townsend broke twice in the sixth and eighth games to win the second set 6-2. Kostyuk broke twice to open up a 3-0 lead. Townsend pulled back both breaks to draw level to 4-4. Kostyuk broke for the third time in the ninth game. Townsend saved the first three match points she faced but Kostyuk sealed the win on her fourth match point with her third ace.
Last year’s Adelaide finalist Daria Kasatkina, who came back from one set down to beat qualifier Anna Kalinskaya 5-7 6-4 7-5 after 2 hours and 51 minutes.
Kalinskaya converted her third break point to take a 2-1 lead in the first set. Kasatkina broke back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Kalinskaya broke again in the 11th game to win the first set 7-5.
Kalinskaya raced out to a 4-0 lead with two breaks of serve. Kasatkina saved a break point in the fifth game before turning the match around with a streak of eight consecutive games to take a 2-0 lead in the third set. Both players traded breaks four times. Kalinskaya saved two match points from 5-3 down to draw level to 5-5. Kasatkina sealed the win with another break on her third third match point as Kalinskaya made a double fault. Kasatkina clinched her fourth win in her five head-to-head matches against Kalinskaya.
