In-form Elena Rybakina has moved into the last 32 of the Madrid Open after a straight sets victory over Italian Lucia Bronzetti.
Number four seed Rybakina triumphed 6-4 6-3 on Friday and will next face either Marta Kostyuk or Mayar Sherif.
Rybakina was broken early in each set but ultimately had few problems getting over the line, converting four of her five break points to continue an impressive run of results after winning the Stuttgart Open last week.
She has now won five consecutive WTA matches and has 13 straight wins on clay courts to her name in a superb streak that started one year ago.
13 - Following her victory over Lucia Bronzetti in Madrid, Elena Rybakina is now one of only three players to claim 13 consecutive WTA match wins on clay since the start of 2020, along with Iga Swiatek and Simona Halep. Adaptable.#MMOPEN | @MutuaMadridOpen @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/JSjCbHduXX
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) April 26, 2024
Data Debrief: Rybakina in elite company
Since the start of 2020, only two other players have claimed as many 13 consecutive WTA wins on clay, and they are Iga Swiatek and Simona Halep, so Rybakina is in elite company.
Rybakina's last defeat on this surface came in the 2023 edition of the Madrid Open, when she fell to Anna Kalinskaya in her first match, so this win represented a better start to her campaign in the Spanish capital.
