Both Rybakina and Paolini will have their hands full in the last eight. The Kazakh now has the task of trying to become the first woman to beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka at this event. The three-time reigning champion notched her 19th successive win here by sailing past Liudmila Samsonova, 6-3, 6-2.
If Rybakina pulls it off, she’ll be favored to overtake the Italian on the leaderboard. For Paolini’s path to the semifinals requires conquering Iga Swiatek. The Pole notched her 125th win on the WTA 1000 stage when she eliminated Belinda Bencic and has claimed all six of her prior meetings with Paolini.
Sabalenka, Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova and Madison Keys have previously qualified. Gauff is the reigning champion, having edged out Zheng Qinwen in a final-set tiebreaker to clinch the 2024 edition.
