Elena Rybakina has advanced to the semifinals of the Abu Dhabi tournament after defeating Cristina Bucsa, who is currently ranked 74th in the world. Rybakina, who is the highest-seeded player in Abu Dhabi, won the match against qualifier Bucsa with a score of 6-1, 6-4. This victory marks Rybakina’s first appearance in the semifinals of a WTA 500 event in the United Arab Emirates. In previous years, Rybakina reached the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi in 2021 and 2023.
Rybakina, who is 24 years old, and her opponent Bucsa, who is 26 years old, have previously faced each other once before. Earlier this year, Rybakina also defeated Bucsa with a score of 6-2, 7-5 in the round-of-16 at the Adelaide International tournament.
Rybakina started the match strongly against Bucsa, winning five consecutive games with back-to-back breaks. Although Bucsa managed to hold her serve and win one game, it did not have a significant impact on the outcome of the set as Rybakina comfortably served out the first set in the following game.
In the second set, Bucsa improved her performance and started playing much better. She even managed to break Rybakina’s serve in the fourth game, taking a 3-1 lead. However, Rybakina quickly responded by breaking Bucsa’s serve in the next game, leveling the score. After overcoming an early deficit in the second set, Rybakina broke Bucsa’s serve once again in the ninth game, taking a 5-4 lead. Serving for the match in the tenth game, Rybakina won the game without dropping a point and closed out the match.
In the semifinals of the Abu Dhabi tournament, Rybakina will face Liudmila Samsonova, who is seeded eighth. In the first match of Friday’s schedule, Samsonova defeated Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, with a score of 6-1, 6-4.
Rybakina and Samsonova have faced each other four times before, with Samsonova emerging victorious in all of their previous encounters. In 2021, Samsonova defeated Rybakina in Montreal and Tokyo, and in the following year, she also beat her in Montreal and Beijing. It remains to be seen if Rybakina can secure her first win against Samsonova when they meet in the semifinals of the Abu Dhabi tournament.
According to the Source tennisworldusa.org