“We’re always on tour, so I’m missing this kind of driving a bit, but it’s been amazing and I’m super happy to be back!” said Rybakina, who will next face either Leylah Fernandez or Zeynep Sonmez.
Rybakina was joined in the quarterfinals by No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva, who appears to have turned around her season since switching the clay. The 18-year-old arrived in Stuttgart fresh off winning her second title of the year in Linz, and, after dethroning defending champion Jelena Ostapenko, navigated a first-set tiebreaker to defeat American Alycia Parks, 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Andreeva had struggled for consistency after starting the year with a title in Adelaide, showing flashes of emotional upheaval through defeats at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open.
“I’m just super happy with the way I stayed composed,” Andreeva said after the match. “I felt like at some moments I was getting a little bit more tight, because for me, every point was important when you play against these kind of dangerous players.”
