Elina Svitolina was beaten. Elena Rybakina entered their quarterfinal match of the 2026 Italian Open with the mindset to overpower her opponent. For one set, it worked brilliantly. After that, not so much.
The WTA No. 7 had to find a way to lengthen points. Her issue early was the WTA No. 2, with real hopes of reaching No. 1 with a title in Rome and then a great showing at the French Open, was either pushing Svitolina off the court with her serve, or ending points quickly. The games were going by quickly, and Svitolina was along with them.
In the second set, Svitolina hit the angles better, extended any point she could, and if a rally went longer than five shots, the Ukrainian won the point eight times out of ten. Literally. Even more impressively, while Rybakina still hit her serve with bombast, Svitolina was able to chip back to keep points alive any way she could.
Elina Svitolina shocks Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Italian Open
One of Svitolina's strengths has also been how she thinks about the sport, both in and outside a match. She was once No. 3 and was among the best on the WTA tour in 2017 and 2018. Her skills should not be questioned, but she has never been overly powerful. She plays beautiful tennis, but not with the brutal power of Rybakina or Aryna Sabalenka.
Once she figured out how to combat the Kazakh's power, especially while the Kazakh was serving, the match was back to even, but with a slight advantage to the Ukrainian.
In the second set, Svitolina battled for every point, pushing Rybakina to make one extra shot. The change in the match was shocking, and the second-seed struggled because of it. Svitolina got the break she needed, and evened the match by taking set two 6-4.
The momentum and adjustment that Svitolina made carried into the third set, and Rybakina could not adjust back. Her power was almost being used against her. The Ukrainian got a break to open the set, and then another in the third game. She jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the set wouldn't be so easy.
After getting a two-break lead, Rybakina got a break to get to 1-3, but Svitolina broke again to get to 4-1, but could not consolidate the break. Rybakina was back to 2-4 but serving after being broken three straight times in the set, and was able to hold to get to 3-4.
Finally, Svitolina was then able to hold and get the set to 5-3. This one seemed far easier than any service game she had had in some time. That might have been enough to help her relax a bit as she was able to pressure Rybakina in the next game, though the Kazakh was able to hold after going to deuce. Sivtolina was then able to finish her next game with an ace to take the third set 6-4.
Elina Svitolina will next face Iga Swiatek in the semifinals of the Italian Open. Swiatek brutally erased Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-2.
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