Elena Rybakina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova team up for women’s doubles event at Madrid Open 2023

Kazakhstani Elena Rybakina and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova have teamed up again for the women’s doubles event at the 2023 Madrid Open. The Kazakh-Russian pair entered the tournament with a protected ranking as they defeated Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara 6-0, 6-1 in the first round,

Now, the duo will face either Timea Babos and Anna Danilina or Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse to secure a place in the quarterfinals. Both Rybakina and Pavlyuchenkova also teamed up earlier in the season, when they competed at the Adelaide International 2 and reached the finals. However, they ended up losing the final against Luisa Stefani and Taylor Townsend.

The pair also took part in the Australian Open and the Dubai Tennis Championships, where they reached the third round and Round of 16 respectively. They have competed in two Grand Slams in 2021, where they first played at the French Open as a doubles team. They even reached the quarter-finals in Paris where they ended up losing to Bernarda Pera and Magda Linette.

It is noted that the duo met in the singles quarterfinals at the same event, with the latter winning 6-7(2), 6-2, 9-7. The Kazakh-Russian duo also took part in the 2021 Wimbledon Championships but got eliminated by Elena Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova.

Elena Rybakina to start her singles campaign against Anna Kalinskaya

Rybakina had a great season so far as she went on to win 22 out of 28 matches she played so far. She also won the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and went on to reach the finals of the Australian Open and Miami Open.

The 23-year-old will begin her singles campaign at the Madrid Open with a match against Anna Kalinskaya, who came back from a set down to defeat Brenda Fruhvirtova 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in her previous match.

Both Rybakina and Kalinskaya are set to lock horns the second time on the WTA tour. Rybakina won the previous encounter between them by 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of the Miami Open. The winner will face either 27th seed Petra Martic or Laura Siegemund in the third round.