Stat of the Day: Elena Rybakina has now won her last seven matches in a row against Top 3 players

Elena Rybakina has been one of the best players on the women’s tour over the last year and a half, not only capturing her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last year but also reaching another major final at the Australian Open this year and winning her first two WTA 1000 titles.

One of the qualities that has taken her to those results has been her ability to lift her game against the other best players in the world—and she did that once again in Beijing on Friday, taking out new No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 event, 7-5, 6-2.

Not only has the Kazakh now won her last four matches against No. 1s, she’s now won her last seven in a row against Top 3 players, period.

ELENA RYBAKINA VS. TOP 3 PLAYERS (8-4):

• l. to No. 1 Barty in 2020 Australian Open 3rd Rd, 6-3, 6-2
• d. No. 3 Pliskova in 2020 Dubai QFs, 7-6 (1), 6-3
• l. to No. 2 Halep in 2020 Dubai F, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
• l. to No. 1 Barty in 2022 Adelaide-1 F, 6-3, 6-2
• l. to No. 3 Badosa in 2022 Stuttgart 2nd Rd, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
• d. No. 2 Jabeur in 2022 Wimbledon F, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
• d. No. 1 Swiatek in 2023 Australian Open 4th Rd, 6-4, 6-4
• d. No. 1 Swiatek in 2023 Indian Wells SFs, 6-2, 6-2
• d. No. 2 Sabalenka in 2023 Indian Wells F, 7-6 (11), 6-4
• d. No. 3 Pegula in 2023 Miami SFs, 7-6 (3), 6-4
• d. No. 1 Swiatek in 2023 Rome QFs, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 2-2 ret. (thigh injury)
• d. No. 1 Sabalenka in 2023 Beijing QFs, 7-5, 6-2

And for anyone wondering, Sabalenka was ranked No. 5 when she defeated Rybakina in the Australian Open final this year, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Rybakina has gone as high as No. 3 herself on the WTA rankings, spending eight weeks at that spot between June and August this year.

She’s currently ranked No. 5.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion will have to lift her game again in the semifinals, though, as she takes on one of her toughest match-ups in Liudmila Samsonova—the Russian has won all three of the pair’s previous meetings, in Montreal in 2021 (6-4, 5-7, 6-4), Tokyo in 2022 (6-2, 6-4) and again in Montreal this summer (1-6, 6-1, 6-2).

The winner of that semifinal will face a Top 3 player in the final on Sunday, either No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek or No. 3-ranked Coco Gauff.