World No. 2 Elena Rybakina has advanced to the semifinal of the ongoing Stuttgart Open 2026. The victory came after she saved two match points against unseeded Leylah Fernandez of Canada. On Friday, April 17, she secured her win to book her place alongside Russia’s Mirra Andreeva.
The 2024 Stuttgart winner, Rybakina had three hours to get past Fernandez whom she defeated by sets of 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(6), and also saved two match points in the final-set tiebreaker.
Following her win, Rybakina said, “Especially in the beginning there was a lot of frustration. I was just going downhill. The serve was not going. Somehow I found the fight in me and a couple of points were important in the second set. And somehow I started finding this momentum.”
On the other hand, Andreeva in her quarterfinal game defeated two-time Stuttgart champion Iga Swiatek by sets of 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. She also edged past defending champion Jelena Ostapenko in the tournament’s first round game.
Swiatek, who had won four of her six Grand Slams on the French Open clay court, was coming off as a favourite in the tournament but she struggled against the 18-year-old Russian.
In her match against Swiatek, Andreeva claimed a crucial break point and took the second set. Swiatek ran out in the deciding set which resulted in Andreeva winning the match.
Speaking on her victory over Swiatek “She’s won so many tournaments I can’t even count how many Slams she’s won… she’s a past winner of this tournament as well. I was telling myself: ‘No matter what’s happening, I have to keep fighting and keep believing. I can win from any score,” Andreeva said.
The victory got 18-year-old Andreeva her first-ever semifinals run in Stuttgart, where she will face top-seed Rybakina.
