Zhang Shuai Advances at Madrid Open; Rybakina Closes Gap on Sabalenka in Rankings Race

Zhang Shuai advances to the second round of the Madrid Open, while Elena Rybakina narrows the rankings gap with Aryna Sabalenka amid an intense WTA title race.

Tennis: China's Zhang Shuai into second round of Madrid Open (Image Source: IANS)

China's Zhang Shuai progressed to the second round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Germany's Eva Lys. The veteran, who was ranked as high as world No. 22 three years ago, made effective use of her first serve on a breezy morning in Madrid and will face 16th seed Madison Keys of the United States in the second round.

In the men's competition, China's Zhang Zhizhen failed to reach the second round after suffering a 6-2, 6-0 defeat to the Czech Republic's Vit Kopriva, who won more than 80 percent of his service points, while Zhang won only 43 percent of the points on his first serve.

In other matches in the WTA part of the Madrid Open, Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey defeated Carlota Martinez Cirez of Spain 7-6, 6-2, while Alexandra Eala of the Philippines stunned Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan will continue her attempts to overtake Aryna Sabalenka as the reigning World No.1 in the WTA Rankings, if not in Madrid, in the events following soon after.

By winning the title in Stuttgart last week, World No. 2 Elena Rybakina has cut the gap between herself and Sabalenka from 2,917 points (11,025 to 8,108) to 2,395 points (10,895 to 8,500), not just because she added points by winning the title, but because Sabalenka lost points for missing the event, having reached the final last year.

That 2,395-point gap is the closest anyone’s gotten to Sabalenka since the very first week of the 2026 season, when she led then-No. 2 Iga Swiatek by 2,312 points (10,490 to 8,178).

Though the Kazakh can’t take the top spot in Madrid, depending on how the tournament plays out, she can close in by a lot.

That 2,395-point gap is the closest anyone’s gotten to Sabalenka since the very first week of the 2026 season, when she led then-No. 2 Iga Swiatek by 2,312 points (10,490 to 8,178).

In the most extreme scenario in Madrid—Sabalenka losing her opening match and Rybakina going on to win the title—that would shred the gap to just 470 points, with Sabalenka going from 10,895 to 9,905 and Rybakina going from 8,500 to 9,435.

Article Source: IANS