Elena Rybakina revealed she approached Paula Badosa’s match point as any other point and that worked well for her.
On Saturday night in Miami, 10th-seeded Rybakina saved a match point en route to beating Badosa 3-6 7-5 6-3 in the Miami third round.
“Well, I was trying not to think that it’s a match point, just try to fight every point. I think in the first set, I was playing not so bad, it was just some moments here and there and it didn’t go my way. Paula played really well until the end, we both fought. So, yeah, I’m just happy that I managed to win in three sets. I think I found my rhythm after I saved a match point. I started to move a bit better, I was pushing more on the serve and, yeah, overall, I think the first set was really close. It was just a mistake here and there, a few from Paula and yeah, overall, I’m just pleased that I won this match,” Rybakina said, per Sportskeeda.
How Rybakina defeated Badosa?
Early in the first set, Badosa was twice up by a break but Rybakina twice recovered as the two players were tied to six games apiece after the first six games.
After blowing two early breaks, Badosa broke Rybakina again in the seventh and ninth games to seal the first set.
In the second set, Badosa broke Rybakina for a 4-2 lead but the Kazakh got the break back in the seventh game.
In the 10th game – when Rybakina was serving to stay in the match – she saved a match point to tie the second set to five games apiece.
After saving a match point, Rybakina broke Badosa for a 6-5 lead and served out for the second set in the following game.
In the third set, Badosa had a 3-2 lead before Rybakina claimed back-to-back breaks in the seventh and ninth games to win four games in a row and seal a three-set win.
Rybakina plays Elise Mertens next.
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