Elena Rybakina (4th in the world) had never lost against Victoria Azarenka (32nd) and did not change her good habits this Thursday in the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 in Miami. The Kazakh won despite a big air gap in the second set and after a decisive tie-break (6-4, 0-6, 7-6 [2]).
Rybakina, generally more solid during the first set, completely missed her second set (0-6 in 29 minutes). But, in very good shape at the start of the season, the Moscow native recovered from the start of the final set before taking her opponent’s service at 2-2. Nevertheless, Azarenka held on and took advantage of a moment of Rybakina’s tension to break free. The victory was then decided in the tie-break, much better managed by the winner of Wimbledon in 2022 (6-4, 0-6, 7-6 [2]).
88 %
Elena Rybakina won her 22nd match since the start of the season (3 defeats), i.e. more than 88% of victories, the best ratio just ahead of Iga Swiatek (87.5%).
Finalist in Florida last year, the Kazakh will try to win the Miami tournament for the first time despite the fatigue of a match which lasted more than 2h30. She will face the winner of the other half between Ekaterina Alexandrova and Danielle Collins on the night of Thursday to Friday (from 1:30 a.m. French time).
