Role reversal: Andreescu beats Rybakina for first time; faces Zheng next
In her latest comeback, Bianca Andreescu picked up a key victory at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Sunday, defeating No. 11 seed Elena Rybakina 6-2, 6-4 to reach the Round of 16.
Rome: Draws | Scores | Order of play
The win marked a complete turnaround in the rivalry between these two Grand Slam champions. Andreescu had lost all of their three previous meetings in straight sets -- including just two weeks ago in the very same round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
But at the Foro Italico, 2019 US Open champion Andreescu was relentless as she toppled 2023 Rome champion Rybakina for the first time. The Canadian needed 1 hour and 27 minutes to stop the Kazakh, who also won the 2022 Wimbledon title.
Big wins bode well: Andreescu, who has struggled with injuries since her breakthrough 2019 season, is playing only her fourth event of the year after another six-month patch off tour. But she is exhibiting excellent form in Rome: she has now notched two consecutive Top 20 wins, having beaten No. 20 seed Donna Vekic in the previous round.
In fact, this is the first time Andreescu has accrued multiple Top 20 wins in the same event since her run to the US Open title five-and-a-half years ago.
Overall, this is the fourth time Andreescu has beaten multiple Top 20 players at a single event -- she did it on two other occasions in 2019, at WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Toronto. In all of those previous instances where Andreescu pulled off that feat, she won the title.
Bianca unbroken: It was an utterly dominant first set by Andreescu, who had nine winners to just four unforced errors and won 100 percent of her second-serve points.
The second set got closer as more of Rybakina's fierce forehands found the court, but that would not be enough on this day to oust Andreescu. Rybakina had two break points at 2-1 and another pair at 3-2, yet Andreescu was resilient and finished off the match without dropping serve.
This is the first time Andreescu has won a WTA 1000 match without losing her serve since a victory over Jennifer Brady at 2019 Beijing.
Rome run continues: The Canadian is now back into the fourth round at Rome for the first time since she reached the quarterfinals on debut in 2022.
After two Top 20 wins in a row, Andreescu will now face a Top 10 player in the Round of 16: No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen of China. Zheng eased past No. 26 seed Magdalena Frech of Poland 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday.
Zheng won their only previous meeting 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 at 2022 Toronto. If Andreescu can avenge that loss, it would be her first Top 10 win since she advanced past No. 10 Beatriz Haddad Maia via retirement at Tokyo last fall.
