After a slow start, fourth seed Elena Rybakina defeated Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 6-3 6-4 on Thursday to go to the French Open third round.
Despite an early double fault, Rybakina, a former Wimbledon winner, managed to hold in the first game played under cover on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
From 15 to 30 down, the 24-year-old Kazakh took over, hitting three straight aces for a 3-2 lead and sealing a break to win the first set in 35 minutes.
“I’m attempting to cover the right sides of the court with a lefty. Ultimately, I’m also trying to push myself today with some ups and downs and spending a lot of time thinking about myself,” Rybakina remarked.
I was down 0–40 in a number of games, which isn’t really typical for me. However, she is a skilled player, and playing her is difficult.
Early in the second set, there wasn’t much separating the two before the lanky Rus capitalized on errors made by her opponent to break for a 4-2 lead, only to give up her serve in the following game.
Nobody wants to play three sets, so I made an effort to push myself and pay attention to each point. Energy-wise, I wasn’t all that pleased with myself today,” Rybakina continued.
Levelling up at 4-4, the Russian-born Rybakina broke once more to give herself a chance to win the match on serve. She won admirably and scheduled a meeting with either Petra Martic or Elise Mertens.