Upsetting the reigning Wimbledon champ 🚨 @DonnaVekic comes from a set down to defeat No.2 seed Rybakina and reach the Berlin quarterfinals! #bett1open
Rybakina beaten on grass for the first time since Wimbledon triumph, dumped out at Bett1 Open Berlin by Vekic
WTAWednesday, 21 June 2023 at 17:41
Elena Rybakina came into this year's grass court season having not been defeated since before her Wimbledon triumph in 2022 but that changed on Wednesday as Donna Vekic accounted for her at the Bett1 Open Berlin.
Rybakina has seen a swell of support including from Andy Roddick in her quest for back to back Wimbledon titles but lost out 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-4 to the Croatian.
Vekic did not have her serve broken in the whole match in a superb display and reaches the Quarter-Finals in Berlin. A real danger on grass evidenced by previous titles including in Nottingham, this showed again against the World No.3.
Rybakina herself has suffered with illness which pulled her out of the French Open in the latter stages.
But today, Vekic was just too good and also improved a horrific stat as a result. Previously, she had not beaten a top five ranked opponent after losing the first set.
She sat at 0-11 coming into the match but now improves that record to a single digit in favour of herself. It also could be a smooth route through to the semi-finals.
She faces one of the stories of the French Open in Russian ace, Elina Avanesyan. The 20-year-old is in her first tournament since reaching the fourth round losing to eventual finalist, Karolina Muchova.
Still the Spanish residing player had to come through qualifying and in two days has seen off both Daria Kasatkina and Anna Blinkova after only ending her qualification on Sunday evening.
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