Elena Rybakina failing to close out the match against Aryna Sabalenka in a stunning way also had an impact on Coco Gauff as the American won’t be making her top-2 debut on Monday.
When the Madrid Open started, world No. 2 Sabalenka as the defending champion had 1,000 points to defend while third-ranked Gauff just 45.
Even after Gauff exited Madrid in the round-of-16, she still had good chances of overtaking Sabalenka at the No. 2 spot and achieving a new career-high ranking as she just needed the Belarusian to not reach the final.
And on Thursday, Gauff was milimeters away from reaching the world No. 2 spot after Rybakina opened a 6-1 5-4 lead and was serving for the match against Sabalenka in the Madrid semifinal.
But at 30/30 in the 10th game of the second set, Rybakina missed what appeared to be a routine forehand and then she also got broken after making another unforced error in the following game. Rybakina paid the price for failing to serve out for the match as Sabalenka went on to complete a 1-6 7-5 7-6 (5) win.
Sabalenka avoids losing the No. 2 spot to Gauff by beating Rybakina
Now in live rankings, Sabalenka has 7,498 ranking points while Gauff has 7,313. If Sabalenka beats Iga Swiatek…
