Rybakina halts Andreescu comeback in second round

A showdown between Grand Slam champions closed out Friday’s play at the Mutua Madrid Open, with No. 10 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan besting Canada’s Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 6-2 in the nightcap on Manolo Santana Stadium.

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, took 1 hour and 17 minutes to oust 2019 US Open champion Andreescu. It was their first meeting in over two years, but the result matched their previous encounters: Rybakina is now 3-0 vs. Andreescu, and 6-0 in sets.

“First matches are always tough, and against Bianca it’s always difficult,” Rybakina said on court, after her win. “Super happy that I managed to win. Still not at my best, of course, first match on clay, but super happy to be back and excited for the next match.

Here are some takeaways from the meeting between the major winners:

Tracking the numbers: On Monday, Rybakina fell out of the Top 10 of the PIF WTA Rankings for the first time since January of 2023. She is currently ranked No. 11 and is defending 390 points from her semifinal run last year in Madrid.

But that type of result from last year is why Rybakina can take confidence in her game over the next few weeks. Her clay-court play was outstanding in 2024: she won Stuttgart, reached the Madrid semis and the Roland Garros quarterfinals, going 12-2 on the surface.

Even though she is well-known as a fast-court expert, Rybakina has proven she can win a lot on the dirt, and she chalked up another victory in her 2025 clay-court debut.

Power plays pay off: Indeed, Rybakina brought her booming play into her latest matchup with Andreescu. The Canadian, as per her custom, stepped into the court and tried to dictate as much as she could, but it was Rybakina who took charge of points more often than not.

In the first set, Rybakina had 16 unforced errors to eight winners, but she still controlled more of the outcomes than Andreescu, who had three winners and 10 unforced errors. The Rybakina miscues dwindled as the opener wore on, allowing her to win the final three games of the set.

Rybakina was also locked in behind her vaunted serve, never letting Andreescu have much of a look at a break. Rybakina faced only three break points, all in the second set, and she swatted them all away. Rybakina won an impressive 80 percent of points when she got her first serve into play.

“We know each other well, and she is just coming back from injuries,” Rybakina said. “I knew that she would try to move me off court, change a little bit the pace of the game. I was trying to focus on myself and on the serve, and tried to stay aggressive. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but hopefully I can improve and be better in the [next] round.”

Nevertheless, Bianca is back: Andreescu, who has seen her results stymied by injuries since her breakthrough year of 2019, can still take solace in the fact that she picked up a win over Top 50 player McCartney Kessler in the first round — her first win on tour since last October.

The former World No. 4 has only played two events so far this season and she will try her luck in the rest of the clay-court swing, including at Rome and Roland Garros. Like in Madrid, she is entered into both of those main draws on her special injury ranking.

Top 20 clash next: In a marquee third round, Rybakina will take on No. 17 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. This will be a test for Rybakina, as former World No. 3 Svitolina just won her 18th career title on the clay of Rouen on Sunday. Rybakina has a narrow 3-2 head-to-head lead over Svitolina, and they are 1-1 on clay.