Berlin: Elena Rybakina suffered a setback in the build-up to her Wimbledon title defence when she was knocked out of the Berlin WTA event by Donna Vekic on Wednesday.
Vekic, ranked 23 in the world, beat the second-seeded Kazakh 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-4 to make it through to the quarter finals.
An Australian Open finalist in January, the 24-year-old Rybakina was one of the favourites for the French Open but pulled out early due to illness.
Earlier Wednesday, French third seed Caroline Garcia defeated Australian Jaimee Fourlis 6-3, 6-2 on her first appearance on the Berlin grass.
The 2022 US Open semi-finalist broke her opponent three times in the first meeting between the two players. She has now won 25 matches in 2023.
Elina Avanesyan defeated Anna Blinkova 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to make the quarter-finals in an all-Russian duel.
The WTA event in Berlin, taking place just two weeks before Wimbledon, is a star-studded event, with nine of the world’s top 10 participating. — AFP
