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2024 Berlin Ladies Open Quarter-Finals Schedule and Preview: Gauff vs. Jabeur headlines, Sabalenka and Rybakina aim for semifinals
WTAFriday, 21 June 2024 at 08:58
The quarter-finals of the WTA 500 Berlin Ladies Open are set to begin this Friday, June 21st at 11 am local time, featuring stellar matchups including Coco Gauff versus Ons Jabeur and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina against former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.
Thursday's action saw a couple of favorites exit the tournament, with the 5th seed Marketa Vondrousova withdrawing after a slip against Anna Kalinskaya, and the 6th seed Zheng Qinwen losing in straight sets.
Rybakina's grass court mastery continues
The WTA Tour has shown greater consistency than the ATP over the past year, as the top seeds in Berlin have all advanced to the quarter-finals without dropping a set so far. The first to take the court on Friday will be the third seed Elena Rybakina.
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Injuries have prevented Rybakina from fully shining in 2024; however, when fit, she has maintained consistent results with an impressive 34-6 record this year, including three WTA 500 titles and two other finals appearances.
The Kazakhstani player is particularly dangerous on grass, boasting a career overall record of 72% on this surface. In her debut match, she defeated Veronika Kudermetova in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5. Now, she faces former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka (No. 19), against whom she holds a favorable 4-0 head-to-head record, albeit all previous matches were on hardcourts.
Azarenka surprised by defeating 7th seed Maria Sakkari and qualifier Zeynep Sonmez in the earlier rounds. Despite not being entirely comfortable on grass—none of her 21 titles have come on this surface—Azarenka's experience makes her a formidable opponent, and Rybakina will need to bring her A-game to secure victory.
Elena Rybakina at the 2024 French Open.
Following Rybakina's match, fourth seed Jessica Pegula (No. 5) will face the surprising qualifier Katerina Siniakova. The Czech player advanced from qualifying and has recorded consecutive straight-set victories over Emma Navarro and Zheng Qinwen.
At 28 years old, Siniakova seems to have found singles consistency with two titles and a runner-up finish in the past year. In the 2023 grass swing, she clinched her first grass title at the WTA 250 Bad Homburg Open and aims to level her head-to-head against Pegula, trailing 1-2.
Pegula missed most of the European clay swing due to injury and made a comeback last week at the Libema Open in 's-Hertogenbosch. The world No. 5 started her Berlin campaign strongly with a notable win over 2023 runner-up Donna Vekic.
Gauff vs. Jabeur highlight of the Day:
An intriguing matchup awaits between Gauff and Jabeur, both eyeing significant achievements at the upcoming Wimbledon. Gauff, who recently reached world No. 2, aims to replicate her strong performances from last year on grass.
Gauff began her Berlin campaign by defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova in a tight match, 7-6(6), 6-2, showcasing an impressive service game with 80% points won on first serve and 71% on second serve. Gauff leads their head-to-head 5-2, although Jabeur secured a victory in their only grass encounter, two years ago en route to her title in Berlin.
Jabeur appears to be overcoming her early-season struggles, currently outside the top-20 in the WTA Race, just two weeks before defending points from the Wimbledon final. In her recent appearances, she reached the French Open quarter-finals and started the grass swing with a tight quarter-final loss at the Nottingham Open against Karolina Pliskova.
This week, Jabeur has already defeated Wang Xinyu and Linda Noskova and looks to continue her strong showing on a surface where she feels much more comfortable than her opponent.
Aryna Sabalenka at the 2024 French Open.
The day concludes with world No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka facing off against Russian player Anna Kalinskaya. The two-time Grand Slam champion started her Berlin journey comfortably with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Daria Kasatkina, improving her head-to-head record to 7-2.
Kalinskaya advanced after the retirement of the 5th seed Marketa Vondrousova during their first set at 5-5. The Wimbledon champion suffered a slip that forced her to withdraw from the match, just weeks before she begins her title defense at Wimbledon.
Kalinskaya holds a 22-17 record on grass (56%) and trails Sabalenka 1-3 in their head-to-head encounters. Their match will conclude the day, determining the semi-finalists of the Berlin Ladies Open.
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