Rybakina, Shnaider dash British hopes to reach Queen's quarterfinals
LONDON -- A parade of home winners turned the first two days of the HSBC Championships into a celebration of British tennis, with no less than four making it into the second round.
But the seeded players have begun to snuff out the flame as the week has gone on. On Wednesday, No. 8 Amanda Anisimova halted Sonay Kartal's run; and on Thursday, both No. 4 Elena Rybakina and No. 5 Diana Shnaider ended the hopes of another two Britons to reach the quarterfinals.
Shnaider opened the day's play by defeating Katie Boulter 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, her second win in as many meetings with the World No. 34 following a 6-1, 6-2 rout in last year's Hong Kong final. Boulter came out strongly on her home turf, firing a slew of winners to break Shnaider twice in the first set.
As the match went on, Shnaider's superior serving proved key. Boulter coughed up nine double faults, while Shnaider conceded just nine points behind her first delivery in the second and third sets combined. Shnaider, who won her first career grass-court title at Bad Homburg last year, will next face No. 2 Madison Keys.
Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, playing her first grass-court match of the season after receiving an opening bye, also had to navigate some tricky early moments. Watson also emerged with a strong tactical game, repeatedly deploying the drop shot to excellent effect. But Rybakina found some touch of her own with a delicately sliced pass to break for 4-3, and motored through from there as her power game began to click.
The Kazakhstani was also impressively clutch, saving all seven break points against her -- five of which came in the final game of the match. She will next face another qualifier, 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria.
