Rybakina beats Kudermetova to reach last eight in Stuttgart

Elena Rybakina beat Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (7/3), 1-6, 6-4 in the last 16 of the WTA Stuttgart clay-court tournament on Thursday, continuing her stunning form in 2024.

The Kazakhstani fourth seed and world No 4, who has already recorded victories at the Brisbane International and the Abu Dhabi Open this year, defeated the Russian in two hours 33 minutes.

Rybakina came through a hard-fought first set, winning a tie-break (7/3) but Kudermetova romped through the second set, losing just one game.

Kudermetova, who had just seven wins in 16 games in 2024 heading into Thursday's match, fought back from 3-0 down in the final set to level 4-4.

Rybakina however fought back, breaking Kudermetova again to qualify for her seventh quarterfinal of the season, where she will face either Jasmine Paolini or Ons Jabeur.

Hanging Tough ⭐

Elena Rybakina prevails in the end, defeating Kudermetova in 3 sets to reach her 7th quarterfinal of the season!#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/RsBRO22BSD

— wta (@WTA) April 18, 2024

Kudermetova has never beaten Rybakina in four meetings between the two.

Later on Thursday, world No 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland faces Belgium's Elise Mertens, while former US Open champion Emma Raducanu will take on Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic.

Raducanu beat former world No 1 Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-1 in her first round match on Wednesday.