Elena Rybakina Menahan Langkah Zheng Qinwen

Elena Rybakina once again found herself down a set against Zheng Qinwen for the second time in the 2026 season when they met at the Madrid Open.

And for the second occasion, the Kazakhstani player rallied back to secure a three-set win over the gold medalist from the 2024 Paris Olympics, Zheng.

The second seed took 2 hours and 21 minutes to complete the match, winning with scores of 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the fourth round of the Madrid Open. This victory marks her fourth win over Zheng in five meetings, making her the first player to defeat the Chinese athlete on all three different surfaces.

“I believe the level of play was better than the first match. I think my serve improved, but Qinwen is a tough opponent. She served really well, and returned all my serves. I don’t think my serve was the issue this time,” Rybakina shared.

“I’m pleased that I could capitalize on opportunities in the second set. I fought hard, always trying to stay close. Somehow, it was another three-set match, but I’m happy. ”

With her 27th win of the season, which places her ahead of other female competitors so far, the second seed will face Austrian lucky loser, Anastasia Potapova, for a spot in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open.

Zheng, the 32nd seed, recorded more winners (24 versus 19) and aces (nine compared to seven), but 45 unforced errors from her racket—15 more than the second seed—proved to be decisive. Nine of these came from double faults, contributing to a 38 percent success rate on her second serve points.

After leveling the match at one set each, the 2026 Australian Open champion was the first to take an aggressive stance in the deciding set, going ahead 3-1, which was her first lead of the night.

Zheng responded by breaking the second seed’s serve to bring the score to 3-2, but the second seed quickly countered, regaining the lead and extending it to 4-2, a lead she wouldn’t relinquish this time. Her seventh backhand winner led to her first match point opportunity, and a mistake by the 32nd seed on the second match point ensured victory for the world number 2.

As they prepare for their second encounter in the Madrid Open fourth round, Rybakina won their first meeting against Potapova in Brisbane in the 2024 season. If she maintains her advantage in their head-to-head, she will reach the quarterfinals in Madrid for the second time.

In the third round, Potapova defeated the 21st seed, Jelena Ostapenko, with scores of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.