Eala stuns Rybakina to reach Berlin quarters

Elena Rybakina's recent struggles continued as she was stunned in straight sets by Alexandra Eala in the Berlin Open last 16.

Eala has matched her best-ever career win after coming from a break down to claim a 7-5 6-4 victory in 93 minutes.

Rybakina started strong, dropping just two points in her opening three service games and also getting a vital break on her way to taking a 4-1 lead.

However, Eala dug deep and soon fought back, getting a break of her own to claw back onto level terms.

And another three-game winning streak from the 21-year-old turned the first set on its head, though she missed her first set point and had to fend off a break attempt before taking the lead.

Eala did the hard work early on in the second set, reeling off another three

straight games to take control, and then held off three break points in the fifth game to hold onto her advantage.

Rybakina held off one match point attempt on her serve, but could only extend the match for one more game as Eala got over the line to reach the quarter-finals.

WHAT A PERFORMANCE

It’s that beating the World No.2 feeling #BTO26 pic.twitter.com/50TZoh7Pf6

— wta (@WTA) June 18, 2026

Eala continues fine form as Rybakina stumbles again

Eala had already knocked out Queen's champion Donna Vekic in the first round and has notched another notable victory over the world number two.

By ranking, this is Eala's joint-best result of her career, while this is her fifth top-10 victory - all in straight sets - with four of those coming against top-five opponents.

But while Eala's star continues to rise, Rybakina suffered another frustrating defeat, having suffered back-to-back second-round defeats at the French Open and Queen's coming into this tournament.

This was Rybakina's first loss to Eala, who will meet Elina Svitolina in the next round as she looks to continue her stellar run during her tournament debut.