Former Launceston International competitors Elena Rybakina and Paula Badosa have achieved career-best results at the French Open, with both eliminated from the quarter-finals.
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Both going down to the wire in their respective losses, Russian-born Kazakh Rybakina was defeated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7 6-2 9-7 while Badosa went down to Tamara Zidansek 7-5 4-6 8-6.
Throughout their tournament runs, the pair defeated highly-credentialed players, with Rybakina seeing off 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the fourth round.
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Twenty-one-year-old Rybakina, who was the Grand Slam's 21st seed, won the 2019 Launceston International before making the step up to take Hobart International honours in 2020.
After winning in 2019, Rybakina expressed her disappointment at being unable to attend Festivale, which was running alongside the event.
"Launceston is a beautiful city but I could not get to your festival," Rybakina said.
Due to a rise up the rankings, the Kazakh representative didn't attend last year's Launceston International but Badosa was the tournament's number one seed.
The Spaniard's 2020 Launceston campaign didn't end as well as Rybakina's the year prior, suffering an injury in her second-round contest with Hungarian Fanni Stollar.
But Badosa has since taken her game to the next level, defeating world number one Ash Barty earlier this year.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
