Wimbledon 2023: Elena Rybakina sweeps past Katie Boulter with dominant display in third round

Elena Rybakina defeated Katie Boulter 6-1 6-1 in an ominous display in the third round at Wimbledon.

Rybakina had defeated Shelby Rogers in her first match, and the experienced Alize Cornet on Thursday in the run-up to Saturday’s late match at SW19.

The reigning champion met the British No. 1 on Centre Court and after the first three games went with service, Rybakina held a 2-1 lead but had showed the better tennis with Boulter doing well to keep on track.

However on her second service game, Boulter was pinned back and broken after saving the first break point but unable to execute a lob successfully in the next point.

Rybakina held her serve to go 4-1 and the sheer power of her returns had Boulter struggling to stay in the game when she was serving, and she fell 5-1 behind as the match threatened to race away from her despite the crowd’s backing.

A second-serve ace from the Kazakhstani player wrapped up the first set in just 26 minutes.

She then broke early and served to move 3-1 clear, and broke once more to go 4-1 up with little over 45 minutes played between the pair of them, with it far from certain Boulter would be able to make the match stretch past the hour mark, but a brief resurgence in her otherwise poor service game was not enough to prevent yet another break, and Rybakina marched on.

Speaking to the BBC after the match, Rybakina said: “I was going really well and focused from beginning until the end. It was a really long day, thank you as I heard some support and I am looking forward to the next one.

“I knew what to expect. I knew it was going to be a tough one. I am happy that I was focused from the beginning until the end.”

Discussing her serve, she added: “My coach has done some adjustments every day. There is always a lot to improve but I am really happy with my serve, it is a big weapon in my game.”

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