(Reuters) – Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina set her sights on taking Iga Swiatek’s world number one ranking after knocking the Pole out of the Australian Open with a 6-4 6-4 victory in the fourth round on Sunday.
Rybakina advanced to the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park for the first time with her win at Rod Laver Arena and will meet Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko for a place in the last four.
Rybakina said there were still “many things to improve” on but that she was a match for anyone if she could continue her current form.
“If I perform like I did this week and it’s going to be consistently for sure, I will say that I can be number one, I can beat anyone,” the 23-year-old added.
“For now I need to find my consistency also.”
Sunday was the first time Kazakhstan’s Rybakina appeared on one of the two main showcourts at Melbourne Park during this tournament, with the Russia-born player starting her campaign on an outer court.
The venue mattered little to Rybakina.
“I actually played at Rod Laver against Ash Barty in 2020,” she said. “I played really well.
“I kind of knew what to expect on these big courts, and I just try to do my best and tried to focus on my serve.
“I really don’t care on which court I play. I try to improve from every match.”
The 22nd seed’s win over Swiatek was achieved in less than 90 minutes and she said one of the keys to victory was being on the front foot right from the start.
“When you play against the number one, I think you have really nothing to lose,” Rybakina added.
“I knew that I had to be aggressive from the first ball because she’s a great mover, and she defends really well.
“So I was trying to just attack her from the first ball, and it really worked well.”
(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
