Elena Rybakina avoided a scare in her first match at the Madrid Open, coming from behind to beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse in three sets.

Rybakina, who won the Stuttgart Open last time out, was put to the test by Ruse, but she prevailed 4-6 6-3 7-5 in two and a half hours to reach the third round. 

Ruse started on the front foot, racing into a 3-1 lead, but Rybakina clawed her way back to 3-3. The Romanian immediately broke straight back, though, and held on to take the first set.

Rybakina was cruising at the start of the second as she mounted a comeback, reeling off the first four games without reply.

Ruse showed her mettle this time, winning the next three to claw it back to 4-3, but Rybakina held her off with another vital break before forcing a decider on her third set point.

It remained tight in the final set, with Ruse attempting to pull off a similar result to the first set when she found herself 3-1 up again.

The second seed was soon back on level terms, however, and won the last three games in a row despite Ruse's best efforts, as she converted her third match point.

Dug deep and secured the W

Elena Rybakina is into Round 3 in Madrid after defeating Ruse!#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/z8CAU0x1fp

— wta (@WTA) April 24, 2026

Elsewhere, Madison Keys pulled out of the Madrid Open ahead of her match against Zhang Shuai on Friday due to illness, with lucky loser Anastasia Potapova replacing her in the draw.

Clara Tauson, who had been due to face Katerina Siniakova later in the day, also withdrew from the tournament, citing a right shoulder injury.

Data Debrief: Rybakina hits century

Since Wuhan 2019 – when she claimed her first – Rybakina is the fifth player to win 100+ WTA-1000 main draw matches, along with the other current top-five of the WTA Rankings (Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula).

And since the start of last year's Madrid Open, Rybakina has claimed the most wins in WTA-level events (68). 

The world number two has won all her last 11 opening matches in WTA-1000 events, with her last such defeat being in Miami last season, defeated by Ashlyn Krueger in three sets.