“It’s really special for me”: Elina Svitolina survives 20 break points against Rybakina to reach Rome semifinals

Elina Svitolina advanced to the semifinals of the Rome WTA 1000 event after a physically and mentally demanding victory over Elena Rybakina. The Ukrainian, ranked world No. 10, prevailed 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in 2 hours and 23 minutes, overturning a slow start and surviving sustained pressure on serve throughout the match.

The quarterfinal contest hinged on break-point management. Svitolina faced 20 break points in total and saved 16 of them, repeatedly escaping critical moments against the world No. 2. The statistical imbalance underlined the scale of her defensive work, particularly in the deciding sets where Rybakina maintained consistent baseline pressure.

The result sends Svitolina into her third WTA 1000 semifinal of the season and her first in Rome since winning the title in 2018. It also extends her strong record at the Foro Italico, where she previously lifted back-to-back trophies in 2017 and 2018, the latter marking her last semifinal appearance in the tournament.

La two-time Rome Open champion is the second player with the most wins in Rome since the introduction of the WTA 1000 format, after reaching 24 victories – tied with Serena Williams – and only behind Victoria Azarenka (27) and Iga Swiatek (27).

Rybakina controlled large sections of the opening set, using her serve to dictate early exchanges and forcing Svitolina into extended defensive positions. The Kazakh won a high percentage of first-serve points and converted the early momentum into a 6-2 lead, reflecting the gap in control during the first phase of the match.

However, the trajectory shifted as Svitolina stabilised her baseline patterns and improved her return depth. The Ukrainian was better in the important moments. She ultimately claimed the victory despite her numbers being lower than her opponent’s on serve (55% against 59% for Rybakina) and return (42% against 45%).

“After giving birth to our beautiful daughter Skaï, it’s really special for me to have these kind of moments on the court,” said the 30-year-old in her on-court interview. “Coming back to the top 10, and playing big matches, winning them, it gives me such an amazing and really precious feeling to continue and go for more.”

The Ukrainian was away from the Tour from March 2022 until April 2023. In just a few months she moved from outside the top 1000 into the top 30 and has since remained consistently inside the top ranks. A year ago she returned to the top 15, while since February she has officially been back in the top 10 for the first time in five years.

With the victory, Svitolina moves into a semifinal meeting with Iga Swiatek, who earlier defeated Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-2 in 67 minutes. The matchup carries additional historical context, with Swiatek leading their head-to-head 4-2, although Svitolina won their most recent encounter at Indian Wells this season.

They have also met previously on clay twice: Rome 2021 quarterfinals – in which Swiatek’s straight-sets win was part of her run to her first title in the Italian capital – and later at Roland Garros 2025, where the Pole again prevailed in straight sets.

Svitolina will also move up two positions in the rankings to No. 8, while she is positioned inside the top 5 of the WTA Race. Svitolina has two of her four WTA 1000 titles in Rome, as well as a total of 15 appearances reaching at least the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event – three of them this season.