Elena fends off Victoria Azarenka to reach second straight Miami final

MIAMI: The World No.4 Elena Rybakina reached her fourth final of the season by upsetting No.27 seed Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 0-6, 7-6(2) in the Miami Open semifinals. Rybakina has had a fantastic start to her season on the hard courts, winning titles in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi and reaching her first WTA 1000 final of the year in Doha.

Rybakina will face unseeded American Danielle Collins in the final on Saturday.

"Last year it was different conditions, I was coming from Indian Wells, a lot of wins. This year it's much different. I was not expecting honestly to be in the final, because I was not prepared that well for this tournament. But really happy that I managed to battle through all these matches and be in the final again," Rybakina said as quoted by WTA. Both players missed early break-point opportunities in the first set, but Rybakina broke first, leading 4-3. Azarenka pressed hard in her return games, creating at least one break point in each of the first two, but she was unable to break through. Rybakina defended her lead to win the first set.

Azarenka remained undeterred. After seeing her break chances come and go in the first set, the two-time Australian Open champion struck first in the second and cruised through it. With Rybakina's physical intensity waning, Azarenka dropped only two points on serve in the second set. "The whole match we were both fighting. I knew that in the tiebreak the only chance for me to win is just to switch off my mind and just try to go for it," Rybakina said.

The World No.4 ended Azarenka's seven-game winning streak by holding serve at 1-1 in the third set. She kept her composure and earned the opening breakpoints of the final set. Serving for the victory at 5-4, Rybakina erased a break point with her tenth ace of the day, but Azarenka fought through a lengthy baseline exchange to earn a second. Azarenka secured the break with a quick retrieve in the forecourt, which Rybakina volleyed into the net.

Rybakina took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak after hitting another ace off the tee. This time, the 2022 Wimbledon winner held on to her lead, winning after 2 hours and 30 minutes.

"For sure I can take a lot from this tournament, a lot of positive. And also, in the beginning, these long matches were helping me to get back in shape. Now I'm not in shape just because I'm tired of all these long matches, but overall, it was really successful tournament no matter how I do in the final," the World No.4 said.