Rybakina cruises into quarters on Stuttgart return

Top seed Elena Rybakina beat Diana Shnaider in straight sets to qualify for the quarterfinals of the WTA clay-court event in Stuttgart on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Kazakh, who was champion here in 2024 but skipped last year's event, relied on her service game as she won 6-2, 6-4 against the unseeded Russian in one hour and 12 minutes.

Sealed with an ACEEEEE 🥶❄️

Elena Rybakina displayed a dominant performance over Shnaider and moves into the quarterfinals!#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/ywsujhCA6e

Shnaider, ranked 19th in the world, improved in the second set but was undone by double faults at crucial moments, allowing Rybakina to capitalise.

Rybakina capped the match off with her ninth ace and will next take on either Leylah Fernandez or Zeynep Sonmez in the quarters.

Earlier, world No 9 Mirra Andreeva pushed past American Alycia Parks in straight sets in their last 16 clash to extend her winning streak to six matches.

There's no stopping her now 😤

Mirra Andreeva makes her way into the quarterfinals after defeating Parks in straight sets!#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/4WN5sBA0xr — wta (@WTA) April 16, 2026

Sixth seed Andreeva is in fine form having won the clay event in Linz last week. She eliminated defending champion Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday and breezed past Parks 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.

The Russian will take on two-time Stuttgart winner Iga Swiatek, who won her first clay court match of the season with a comprehensive victory over Laura Siegemund on Wednesday.

"Obviously she's a great player, but I'll just approach this match as every other match that I had before," the 18-year-old Andreeva said of her quarterfinal opponent.

"She's had a good history on clay so I'm just very curious to see how it's going to go."

Czech Karolina Muchova came from a set down to beat Elise Mertens 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 to book her place in the last eight.

Never Backed Down 💪@karomuchova7 gets the job done and defeats Mertens in three sets!#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/eLzj8k0YNn — wta (@WTA) April 16, 2026

Muchova's compatriot Linda Noskova crushed Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 6-1 to set up a quarterfinal clash with Elina Svitolina, who cruised past German Eva Lys 6-1, 6-0 on Wednesday.

Later on Thursday, world No 3 Coco Gauff starts her bid for a first Stuttgart title when she takes on Liudmila Samsonova.