Often dubbed the ‘Ice Queen,’ Elena Rybakina has built a reputation for her unflappable demeanor on court. Whether under pressure or standing on the podium after a win, she is known for staying calm and composed. But on Friday, during her match against Leylah Fernandez, that stoic exterior appeared to crack, as the Kazakh star showed visible frustration and looked unusually fired up on court.

As the opening set went into a tiebreak, Fernandez held her serve and took a 6-5 lead. Rybakina had one last chance to level the set but failed big time and miscued a backhand way outside the baseline to hand Fernandez the lead. The World No. 2 was furious after losing the point and threw her racket onto the turf in what was a rare sight.

It’s rare to see the 2x Grand Slam champion lose her composure and visibly show frustration on court, which only highlighted how much the opening set loss to Leylah Fernandez affected her. The challenge only deepened in the second set, as she found herself trailing 2-4 at one stage. But instead of fading away, Rybakina responded with resilience, stringing together four straight games to turn the set around and keep herself firmly in the contest.

With the match leveled, Rybakina looked to have the momentum by her side heading into the deciding set. But Fernandez would once again look to be the better player on the court as she broke the Kazakh’s serve for the third time in the match. The Canadian took a 5-3 lead and went on to serve for the match.

Despite having two match points under her belt at one stage, Fernandez would still close out the game as Rybakina fought hard and somehow managed to get a crucial break. The 26-year-old would hold her serve and force the final set into a tiebreaker where she would come out on top by 8-6.

The grueling match lasted almost three hours as both the players put in a valiant effort on the court and refused to go down easily. The win also saw Rybakina take a 3-2 lead over Fernandez in the H2H record.

The Kazakh not only lost the first set but was on the verge of bowing out from the tournament. However, she saved two match points to stay alive in the contest and went on to make an epic comeback. Rybakina clinched both the second and third sets to win the match 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 and move into the semis.

After the match, Rybakina admitted that she was quite frustrated in the first half of the match as nothing seemed to be going her way.

Elena Rybakina opens up on “difficult” outing against Leylah Fernandez

“I honestly don’t know because nothing really worked. Especially in the beginning there was a lot of frustration. I was just going downhill. The serve was not going. Somehow I found fight in me and a couple points were important in the 2nd set. Somehow I started finding this momentum. It was a really difficult day. Thank you so much everyone for the support,” she said during her post-match interview.

The World No. 2 wasn’t satisfied at all with her overall performance during the match and said that she did have ample opportunities to close out the game beforehand.

“I was just trying to stay positive. I was pretty negative from the beginning of the match, and I think it wasn’t working. So, I was just trying to play one point at a time. And even when I was up, I had plenty of opportunities to close the game quicker, but I struggled again. So, just really glad to win and have another opportunity tomorrow.”

Having delayed her start to the clay-court season by skipping Kazakhstan’s clash against Canada in the Billie Jean King Cup, Rybakina has had a decent campaign at the Stuttgart Open. Being the top seed of the tournament, she started in the Round of 16 itself where she defeated Diana Schnaider 6-3, 6-4.

Having sent Fernandez packing, Rybakina will now be taking on Mirra Andreeva in the semifinal of the Stuttgart Open. She currently trails the H2H record against the Russian by 1-2 and will have to put in a strong performance in order to reach her second final in Stuttgart.