Queen’s Club upset: Elena Rybakina falls in quarters to veteran Tatjana Maria

Elena Rybakina suffered a surprising defeat at the Queen's Club Championships, falling in the quarterfinals to Germany's Tatjana Maria 4-6, 6-7(4). The Kazakh squandered a break advantage in the second set and was eliminated in her first grass-court tournament of the season.

The world No. 86 was no easy opponent. Maria has been playing some of the best tennis of her career, with a history of reaching the Wimbledon 2022 quarterfinals – precisely the year Rybakina won the title. Maria returns to the semifinals of a WTA 250 tournament and will face American Madison Keys.

First Set: Maria capitalizes on opportunity

The first set began evenly, with both players holding serve strongly. Rybakina faced her first problems in the fifth game, encountering the first break point against her, but she managed to save it with good first serves. However, it was just a warning of what was to come, as in Rybakina's next service game, the German secured the first break.

Maria, 37, seized the advantage and moved ahead 5-3 on her serve. She gave no room for a Rybakina comeback, closing the set without offering any break points to her opponent. Maria had a notable 76% first-serve percentage, winning 89% of those points, while Rybakina had a 56% first-serve percentage, winning the same percentage of those points.

Second Set: Maria knocks out Rybakina

This time, Rybakina appeared stronger on return, attacking Maria's backhand – one of the few players in the top 100 with a one-handed backhand. After squandering up to six break points, Rybakina finally secured the break that put her ahead 3-1. However, Maria broke back and brought uncertainty back to the match after winning a difficult 16-point service game to level at 3-3.

At that moment, a break came for the German on her first chance – showing her greater effectiveness in important moments – and she went up 5-3. It was then that Rybakina finally grabbed the momentum of the match, chaining together up to 9 of the next 10 points and leveling at 5-5.

Both players defended their serve to take everything to a tie-break, but again Maria was more effective in the most important moment, closing out the victory 6-4, 7-6(4). Without a doubt, a memorable tournament for Maria, who has strung together 5 consecutive wins on grass after entering the main draw from qualifying. She defeated two former Grand Slam finalists like Leylah Fernandez and Karolina Muchova. In semis, she will challenge the second seed Madison Keys.

Match Statistics Maria vs. Rybakina