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On Wednesday, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was in imperious form seeing off any possible challenge from the precocious Mirra Andreeva in securing her semi-final spot at the Mutua Madrid Open, where she will take on Elena Rybakina, who was distinctly lacklustre but prevailed over Yulia Putintseva after coming from a set down and saving 2 match points in the process.
In the first quarter-final of the day, Rybakina survived a real scare from her fellow Kazakh Putintseva, 4-6 7-6(4) 7-5, in a 2 hour and 48 minute battle.
“It was really tough,” Rybakina said. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I was hoping I’d start better… it wasn’t easy always coming back.
“I’m really happy.”
Putintseva looked to be on course to cause a huge upset as she put on a near-flawless performance to take the opening set in 45 minutes. However, Rybakina managed to settle down and produce a volley winner to break back for 2-2.
Rybakina had lost twice to Putintseva in the past, but she managed to fight back and eventually win the match, despite producing 54 unforced errors.
Both players saved their finest tennis for the decider, with Rybakina eventually securing the win after a hard-fought battle.
Rybakina also spoke out against the scheduling of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, both 2-week long events, ahead of the French Open, expressing her concerns about the tough schedule.
Rybakina now owns a tour-leading 30 match wins on the season, against just 4 losses, and will face Sabalenka in the semi-finals after the Belarusian beat Andreeva in straight sets.
Sabalenka leads the pair’s head-to-head 5-3 on the WTA Tour, but their last meeting in the final of the 2024 Brisbane International went Rybakina’s way.
Sabalenka dominated throughout the match against Andreeva, eventually closing out the win in straight sets.
They last played 12 months ago, when Sabalenka ended Andreeva’s run in the 4th round on her way to winning the Madrid title.
Andreeva had been on a winning streak coming into the quarter-finals, but was unable to overcome Sabalenka in this encounter.
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