Ashlyn Krueger already had big goals for her 2025 season—and after the tennis she showed on Thursday to upset two-time former finalist Elena Rybakina at the Miami Open, there’s no reason to believe the 20-year-old American can’t reach them.
The world No. 40 scored the biggest upset of the women’s event so far—eight seeds fell on Thursday, the first day the Top 32 hit the court at the WTA 1000 event after all received first-round byes—in a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 tilt that lasted one hour and 50 minutes, despite at one stage losing 22 consecutive points on return. Krueger had previously been 0-6 against Top 10 opponents in her young career, having never won a set.
But a win against a player like Rybakina is a natural progression for the fast-rising American, who in the last year reached two WTA 1000 third rounds, a major third round at the US Open, and reached the final of the WTA 500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open in February. And in fact, watching Krueger for stretches against the 2022 Wimbledon champion was a bit like looking in the mirror: five years Rybakina’s junior, Krueger is also six-foot blonde, right-hander with clean strokes and a penchant for first-strike tennis.
“Big serves, big returns,” Krueger said, comparing the two in her on-court interview. “I knew there weren’t going to be a ton of long points. So a lot of serves, first balls — who was going to get on top of the point quicker.”
