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The Australian Open champion started her clay-court swing in commanding fashion, only needing 74 minutes to book a date with either Leylah Fernandez or Zeynep Sonmez.

Rybakina revealed in her pre-tournament press conference that she had struggled physically throughout the Sunshine Swing in the United States, having finished as the runner-up at Indian Wells and lost in the semi-finals at Miami, both to Aryna Sabalenka.

But she showed no signs of rust in her opening match in Germany, not allowing Shnaider a single break point throughout the contest.

A single break in each set was enough for Rybakina – she broke to love in game four of the opener, then edged a two-deuce 11th game in the second. 

Mirra Andreeva will join Rybakina in the last eight, having earned a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over Alycia Parks. 

Andreeva will now face third seed and clay-court specialist Iga Swiatek in a blockbuster quarter-final, with the Russian having already eliminated 2025 Stuttgart champion Jelena Ostapenko.