Gabriela Ruse was beaten in the 2nd round at the Madrid Open by Elena Rybakina, the world number two player and double Grand Slam winner. The Romanian fought heroically, keeping the assistance in her mouth for two and a half hours. The Bucharest woman finally admitted defeat, after a match on a knife’s edge, in which it went up to 5-5 in the decisive set: 6-4, 3-6, 5-7 for the Kazakh tennis player.
Ranked 71st in the WTA, Gabriela Ruse was dramatically eliminated from the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid by world number 2. The Romanian did not take into account the name of her opponent and started strong, breaking away at 3-1. Rybakina equalized, but Gabi closed the first part of the match 6-4. In the second set, the Kazakh raised her level of play and made it 4-0, but our athlete returned to 3-4 with two breaks. The opponent sent the match to the decider, winning 6-3.
Gabriela Ruse had 3-1 in the decisive set
Gabriela Ruse led in the 3rd set with 3-1 and the spectators expected the first big surprise of the tournament in Madrid. Elena Rybakina tied at 3, our athlete led 4-3 and 5-4, but lost the last three games and recorded her third defeat in as many meetings against the Kazakh.
Instead, another representative of our country, Sorana Cîrstea, easily qualified for the 3rd round at the Madrid Open, after a two-set success with Tyra Grant, 6-2, 7-6 (5). The Italian is 18 years old, half the age of the best-ranked player in Romania.
