Rybakina stuns Svitolina, Giorgi and Sabalenka enter quarters in Eastbourne

Elina Svitolina and Bianca Andreescu were dumped out of the Eastbourne grasscourt tournament on Wednesday while Gael Monfils crashed out of the men’s event.

Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina upset second seed Svitolina 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to reach the quarter-finals while Andreescu, seeded third, went down 6-3, 6-3 to Anett Kontaveit of Estonia at the Wimbledon warm-up event.

Two more qualifiers also booked places in the last eight. Camila Giorgi, who had ousted defending champion Karolina Pliskova in the first round, backed up the upset by defeating lucky loser Shelby Rogers 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, and Viktorija Golubic pulled off a significant upset 6-4, 6-4 over No.6 seed Belinda Bencic.

Svitolina held game point to edge 5-4 ahead in the first set but Rybakina found three stunning forehand winners to snatch the crucial break and take the lead instead.

The world number 21 maintained her advantage, breaking early in the second set but missed an opportunity to take a 5-2 double-break lead and Ukraine’s Svitolina forced a tie-break. Undaunted, Rybakina refocused and a series of emphatic serves and backhands enabled her to dominate, sealing her third match point with a service winner.

Kontaveit breezed past Canada’s Andreescu, converting six of her eight break points against the 2019 US Open champion.

Jelena Ostapenko came from a set and a break down to beat Birmingham champion Ons Jabeur 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 and Anastasija Sevastova saw off American teenager Coco Gauff 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

But top seed Aryna Sabalenka was untroubled by any thoughts of an upset as she stormed past Alison Riske, 6-1, 6-4.

Belarus’s Sabalenka, who came from a set down to beat Riske in the finals of both Shenzhen and Wuhan in 2019, improved to 4-0 against the American as she blasted her way to victory after just 67 minutes of play.

World No.4 Sabalenka hit 34 winners in the match, compared to just seven from the racquet of 31st-ranked Riske. The top seed faced and erased just two break points during the clash, according to WTA. Sabalenka, the 2018 Eastbourne runner-up, will face another power hitter in the quarter-finals, as she will meet Italian qualifier Giorgi in the elite eight.

Purcell downs Monfils: In the men’s tournament, top seed Gael Monfils lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to Australia’s world number 283 Max Purcell.

Monfils came within two points of defeat at 4-5 in the second set, but a crosscourt forehand winner sparked the Frenchman into life.

From 3-5 down in the second set, Monfils won seven straight games before Purcell won five in a row to lead 5-3 in the decider and he calmly closed out the match.

“It feels unbelievable,” said Purcell. “I’ve struggled to get into any singles events over the past nine months and primarily played doubles, so to get on a run here, on my favourite surface, is great. I thought I’d come out and have a go. When I missed the opportunity to close out the match at 5-4 in the second set, Gael showed what a good player he is.”

Purcell beat former World No. 5 and 2018 Wimbledon runner-up Kevin Anderson in the first round of Eastbourne qualifying. He will next challenge 2011 champion and fellow lucky loser Andreas Seppi, who defeated Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland 6-2, 6-3 in 69 minutes.

Monfils came within two points of defeat at 4-5 in the second set, but a crosscourt forehand winner sparked the Frenchman into life. From 3-5 down in the second set, Monfils won seven straight games before Purcell won five in a row to lead 5-3 in the decider. Purcell calmly closed out just his third tour-level win of the year with a hold to 15.

Agencies