All that was left to do was beat her other foe, Rybakina. For the rest of the first set, she did that handily as well. Swiatek moved the 6-foot Moscow native from side to side and exposed her sometimes sluggish defenses. She broke her for 2-0, and again when Rybakina served at 2-5. Swiatek was superior on the attack and in the defense, with her serve, her return—and with her smash, which was sharp early.
But Rybakina had that 4-3 record against Swiatek for a reason, and she managed to stop her momentum, and briefly swing the match in her direction, at the start of the second set. She began to move better, to cut off the angles in the corners, and to match Swiatek’s baseline power with her own. She broke in the first game with a strong return, saved two break points at 1-0, and three more at 2-1. By the time Rybakina was up 4-2, a third set looked inevitable.
