Rybakina struggles but prevails against Riera in her opening match at Roland-Garros

Elena Rybakina played her first-round match at the 2025 edition of Roland-Garros this Monday. Fresh off a victory at the WTA 500 in Strasbourg against Liudmila Samsonova, the Kazakh, ranked 11th in the world, faced Julia Riera, who came through the qualifying rounds.

The Argentine player, ranked 202nd in the world, had defeated Valentina Ryser (2-6, 6-4, 6-1), Talia Gibson (6-4, 6-1), and Miriam Bulgaru (6-4, 6-1) to enter the main draw. Riera did not have the most favorable draw, as she was up against Rybakina, a former Grand Slam winner, for the first time.

The first set was one-sided, and, following her week in Alsace, Rybakina took off to gain the upper hand in the score. But despite being a break down in the second set, Riera, trailing 6-1, 4-2, did not give up and ultimately won the last four games of the set to level the match at one set all.

The decisive set was a battle, with both players going toe-to-toe. Eventually, the third break by the Kazakh in the set proved decisive. She eventually won in a hard-fought match (6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in 1h45) but secured the essential and advanced to meet Iva Jovic in the second round. This Sunday, the young 17-year-old American player had eliminated Renata Zarazua (6-3, 5-7, 6-4).