“You’re so tired that at 5-2 you just say, ‘OK, if I’m going to lose, I’m going to take a vacation because the next tournament is coming.’
World number 4 Elena Rybakina did not have her vacation. She rallied from 2-5, 15-40 down against compatriot and world number 50 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan to save two match points, before winning the third and final set 7-5 in Madrid. She will face Aryna Sabalenka later today (Thursday) for a place in the final.
Rybakina’s victory resulted in a high-quality racquet smash from her opponent, frustrated not only by losing a match, but also a battle of tactical courage. This was a competition in which both players had a clear plan that they simply would not deviate from, whether it worked or not.
The question was who would blink first – and Rybakina won the stare.
Here’s how she did it.
Putintseva made her intentions known very early on. Rybakina’s ball striking is among the most fearsome on the WTA Tour and her opponent looked to take control of the points quickly, moving the action to the front half of the court and forcing Rybakina forward, out of her apparent comfort zone . The first drop shot went off without a hitch.
However, Rybakina was also not interested in grassroots work. She also showed early on her willingness to approach the internet. Both players were establishing a pattern that would repeat itself throughout the match, each trying to impose their plan during the contest. It was only the second game of a match that would last two hours and 48 minutes.
Putintseva won the first set and her success inspired her to continue with her plan. Here, she tricked Rybakina into thinking she was going to hit a two-handed backhand groundstroke before changing her grip to hit a drop shot with her opponent deep behind the baseline, across the court where Putintseva intends to place the ball.
It doesn’t work this time. Putintseva hits her own shot from behind the baseline, extending the time it takes to cross the net just enough for Rybakina to reach it and put away a winner – a sequence that would foreshadow a much bigger moment deeper in the match.
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This does not mean that Putintseva is deterred. Here, Rybakina is further inside the court than in the previous example, making this shot trickier to execute.
Never mind. A beautifully feathered shot has so much spin that Rybakina, although he’s gone in reasonable time, has no hope of coming close.
Down throughout the match, Rybakina does not allow a setback to change her tactics. She approaches a huge point: If Putintseva wins this match, she would consolidate a break to add to her one-set lead. But Rybakina trusted her plan, even approaching cross court, which is usually riskier than down the line, and took her own break point to tie in the second set.
This doesn’t mean that everything will always go as planned. With Rybakina coming in on a short ball, whose bounce knocked her off balance, Putintseva has huge space on Rybakina’s forehand – and, given the forward momentum of the approach, could also head the ball behind her. . She dunked a ball into Rybakina’s ankles and, although she succeeded, the questionable choice of approach gave her opponent a rough shot.
Even a better approach, deep into the corner, is rejected with an incredibly angled pass. Putintseva is starting to understand what to expect and Rybakina is now hanging on for a chance to win the second set and take the match to a decider.
She manages to endure long enough to reach the tie-break. With two points behind, Putintseva does what so many players do: she goes back to what has worked so far. Here she performs the drop shot just inside the baseline. Perhaps because it has become a staple, Rybakina is already moving forward while Putintseva prepares to change her grip, arriving at the ball so quickly that she has enough time to prepare for a precise forehand.
Putintseva is forced to rush deep into the corner, and with that, the set is gone.
What about going back to what worked well in times of pressure? Here, Putintseva managed to regain momentum, racing through the third set and seemingly with an unassailable lead.
Again, this is not enough.
Being so far behind the baseline actually contributes to the quality of the drop shot; it lands so close to the net that Rybakina finds herself courtside as if she had dropped her keys on the ground – but she manages to do so and, with the help of a net from the net cord, she saves a match point.
She saves the next one with an ace and wins five games to win the match.
Along the way, there is an instructive moment. Rybakina again approaches too centrally; Putintseva again forces her into a delicate volley; the ball pops out again… but the quality of the shot is too high, too deep and too wide for Putintseva to do anything other than make an easy finisher appear.
Both players refused to change the tactics that put them in a winning position – even when they found themselves in a losing position – but Rybakina did it slightly better and those are the fine margins of top-level tennis. One standing in victory, the other smashing a racket on the opposite side.
(Top photo: Robert Prange/Getty Images)