There was a time when Elena Rybakina was battling for WTA No. 1. She has more power than nearly any player, and that should have been enough to consistently keep her in the top three. It hasn't been.
She had an issue with changing coaches, and the drama of the relationship she had with long-time coach Stefano Vukov, but ultimately, what cost Rybakina in the standings was her withdrawing or retiring from double-digit tournaments in 2024. She was struggling physically and mentally.
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka was in the process of overtaking Iga Swiatek for the top ranking and enlarging her lead once there. She might not win every tournament, but she seemingly makes deep runs at every event. She does so with the kind of power that Rybakina has, but with better on-court decision-making.
Aryna Sabalenka squeaks by Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals of the Berlin Tennis Open
Sabalenka and Rybakina are no strangers to playing each other, either. Their latest showdown came on Friday during the quarterfinals of the Berlin Tennis Open, the 11th time they have played one another. Sabalenka led the head-to-head entering the match 6-4, but Rybakina had won four of the last six meetings.
In Berlin, the two matched bombastic forehands for bombastic forehands, and delivered serves that would be the envy of any player, man or woman. Each had a chance to take control of the match, too, but found a way to be broken.
This was the case for Sabalenka when she battled back to lead 5-4 in the third set, but dropped the game after Rybakina kept blasting forehand winners. Rybakina then held to lead 6-5. A tie-break seemed likely, especially after Sabalenka had won the first set that way (8-6 in the tie-break), but Rybakina got the decisive break in the second set to take it 6-3 to even the match.
Sabalenka would hold to force a deciding tie-break, the winner of which would face Marketa Vondrousova in the semifinals on Saturday. In the end, Sabalenka took the final six points after trailing in the tie-break 2-6, winning a tense third set tie-break 8-6. She is setting herself up for a likely great run at Wimbledon.