Runner-up in the Australian Open Elena Rybakina suffered a humiliating loss in the Adelaide International quarterfinals on Thursday, falling to the unseeded Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 6-3, just one win away from the year’s first Grand Slam.
In the Brisbane final on Sunday, Kazakh Rybakina set a precedent by defeating Aryna Sabalenka, the winner of Melbourne Park, but she was way behind world no. 21 Alexandrova as she looked to win their fourth encounter.
After a careless start that saw her go down 4-0, the top seed battled back with some intense ball-striking, but Alexandrova’s counterpunching remained strong and broke once more to seal the first set.
Rybakina, who meets Karolina Pliskova in her first clash at the Jan. 14-28 Australian Open, fell behind even further in the next set and mounted another comeback before Alexandrova fought back from 0-40 down at 5-3 to clinch the win.
Up next for Alexandrova is former world number five Jelena Ostapenko, who continued to gain momentum for another tilt at a Grand Slam title with a 7-5 6-3 win over Marta Kostyuk.
The 12th-ranked Latvian, who made her major breakthrough by claiming the 2017 French Open title, is beginning to rediscover her best form having also made the Brisbane quarter-finals and came through a tight first set against her Ukrainian opponent.
She raised her level in the next after dropping serve and broke to go ahead 3-1 before breezing through.
“It was a tough match, but finally I won in two sets. I managed it,” Ostapenko said.
“I feel I was striking the ball well. Even in the first set when it was 5-2 to 5-5, I still was playing my game and then at the end I found it. Just happy to be through.”
Second seed Jessica Pegula overcame Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7(1) 7-5 6-4 to set up a clash with Daria Kasatkina.
In the men’s draw, Jack Draper stunned top seed Tommy Paul 6-1 6-4 to book a semi-final against Alexander Bublik, who saved a match point to outlast Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-7(4) 7-5.
