Australian Open: Rybakina romps into round three
Elena Rybakina's fine form at the Australian Open continued with a straight sets defeat of Iva Jovic on Thursday.
Elena Rybakina claimed her 50th grand slam match win as she stormed into round three of the Australian Open.
Rybakina made light work of her first-round opponent Emerson Jones and was equally as comfortable against wildcard Iva Jovic on Thursday.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion, who was a beaten finalist at Melbourne Park in 2023 and was knocked out in the second round last year, needed just 80 minutes to seal a 6-0 6-3 win over 17-year-old Jovic.
Her victory teed up a third-round tie against Dayana Yastremska, who defeated Danka Kovinic 6-0 6-1.
50 - Elena Rybakina has won their 50th Grand Slam main draw match: she is the fifth player with 50+ Women’s Singles Major wins since 2020 after Swiatek, Sabalenka, Gauff and Jabeur. Milestone.#AO2025 | @AustralianOpen @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/IUEtabLORg
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) January 16, 2025
There were also wins for three-time grand slam finalist Ons Jabeur and eighth seed Emma Navarro, who will face off in round three.
Jabeur overcame Camila Osorio 7-5 6-3, while Navarro needed three sets to defeat Xiyu Wang 6-3 3-6 6-4.
Navarro has played in 30 three-set matches at WTA level since the start of the 2024 season, the most of any player over that span.
Data Debrief: Half-century up for Rybakina
Rybakina's 50th grand slam win saw her join a list featuring four other players to have won at least 50 matches at the majors since the start of 2020: Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Jabeur.
She has now won 13 matches at the Australian Open (equalling her tally at Roland-Garros). Rybakina has only won more matches at Wimbledon (19).