Article by Roxana Fleșeru – Published Wednesday, 08 April 2026, 15:36 / Updated Wednesday, 08 April 2026 15:37
Gabriela Ruse (28 years old, 79 WTA) defeated Dayana Yastremska (25 years old, 49 WTA) for the fifth time in a row, the Romanian winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the WTA 500 tournament in Linz.
Gabriela Ruse and Dayana Yastremska met in Linz for the fifth time in the WTA circuit and for the third time the confrontation between them reached the decider, proof of how contested their duels are.
The last time they met was at the beginning of this year, at the Australian Open, in the first round, when the Romanian prevailed for the fourth time against the Ukrainian.
At the tournament in Austria, Dayana started determined to get her first victory against Gabriela Ruse, who has a WTA trophy in her record, won in 2021 in Hamburg, on clay. The first set was a battle, with many games decided after several ties and with five breaks.
Dayana Yastremska was the more aggressive player, managing to prevail 6-4 in fifty minutes.
Paula Badosa encouraged Gabriela Ruse
With Paula Badosa in her box cheering her on, Gabriela Ruse raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set. A set in which he served and built the points much better. The player from Ukraine, last year's finalist in Linz, requested the intervention of the physiotherapist for some problems with her right knee. His leg was bandaged and his game started to work again, going three games in a row.
Gabriela Ruse wrapped up the set in her favor after 52 minutes, saving three break points in the last two service games and prompting Paula Badosa to shout out to her at the end: “You're playing very nicely.”
Encouraged by the Romanian fans present in the hall in Linz, Gabriela started well in the third set as well, achieving a break right at the start of it. He then made it 2-0 with a solid game on serve. He saw through the difficult moments that arose, when he had to come back from 0-30 down in the sixth and tenth games or when he served under pressure at 4-3 and prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
In the quarterfinals, the Romanian will face the winner of the match Alexandra Eala (20 years old, 46 WTA) – Jelena Ostapenko (28 years old, 23 WTA).
Gabriela Ruse is in the quarterfinals of a WTA tournament for the first time this year, after losing in the first round in Adelaide (coming from the qualifiers), Transylvania Open, Dubai (coming from the qualifiers), Indian Wells, Austin WTA 125, she reached the second round in Miami and the third round at the Australian Open.
The Romanian returns to the quarter-finals at a WTA tournament, after reaching this stage in 's-Hertogenbosch last year. It is also the first quarter-final for Gabriela Ruse in a WTA 500 tournament.
