Gabriela Ruse started the 2026 Australian Open with solid success, managing to defeat the favorite no. 26, Dayana Yastremska, in minimum sets, score 6-4, 7-5, after an hour and 49 minutes of play.
The Romanian admitted that the match was difficult, especially because of the playing conditions, but the difference was made, as she said, by concentration and determination throughout the duel.
“I was ready for anything. It’s not easy to start a Grand Slam like that!”
Gabriela Ruse expressed her satisfaction with the way she handled the tense moments and emphasized the importance of mentality in victories at this level.
“It’s not easy to start a Grand Slam with a top 30 player, but I did my job very well today, despite the fact that the conditions were not so favorable for me because the surface was very fast and she was hitting very, very hard. But I’m super happy that I was able to win and play again in the 2nd round here.
I was 5-1, then she raised her level, there were some moments where I could have done more, but I couldn’t… It was not an easy situation at 5-5, I was ready for a 3 set because she was already playing very well and I just tried to continue, stay positive and whatever happened I was ready for anything.
I played against her many times, I knew she could raise her level a lot because that’s why she’s a top 30 player, but in the end I think I was mentally higher than her!”said Gabriela Ruse, according to eurosport.ro.
“I don’t think they will be easy matches!”
Our athlete, ranked 79th in the world, will find out her next opponent after the match between Yulia Starodubtseva (ranked 110th WTA) and Ajla Tomljanovic (ranked 76th WTA). After qualifying for Round 2, Ruse said she has no preference as to who she will face next in Melbourne, at the moment just wanting to recover as best she can and enjoy today’s win.
“I have absolutely no preference, I want to recover, I’ve already played 7 matches this year. I definitely don’t think there will be easy matches, even if I’m ranked lower than Dayana, I don’t focus on that because every player wants to play very well in Grand Slams.
I have no preferences, I played Tomljanovic twice, Starodubtseva never, but at the moment I want to enjoy today’s victory because it was and is an important victory and then I will prepare for the next match!”Ruse concluded.
