- The supreme Elena Rybakina advances to the Indian Wells semifinals.
- Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina defeated 76th-ranked Karolina Muchova.
- She took advantage of a decrease in Muchova’s serve speed.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina defeated 76th-ranked Karolina Muchova 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-4 to advance to the WTA and ATP Masters 1000 semifinals in Indian Wells on Thursday.
Muchova, who had also reached the quarterfinals in Dubai earlier this month but had to withdraw due to an abdominal injury, gave Rybakina, who finished second to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open in January, everything she could handle. Muchova has been plagued by injuries in the past.
She took advantage of a decrease in Muchova’s serve speed in the final set, but she lost two match points in the penultimate game when she made two backhand errors and Muchova held serve.
After that, Rybakina lost 0-30 on her serve, but she won it with her sixth ace of the day after two hours and 45 minutes.
Rybakina said, “It was a really tough match today, I served much better in the third. I didn’t start that well, I was a bit slower than usual.”
Rybakina next faces either world number one and reigning champ Iga Swiatek or 83rd-positioned Romanian Sorana Cirstea added, “In the important moments I played well.”
Swiatek, who won the French and US Opens last year, wants to become only the second woman since Martina Navratilova in 1990 and 1991 to win Indian Wells in consecutive years.
Rybakina beat Swiatek in the round of 16 at the Australian Open, making her one of three players to do so this year.
Muchova broke the Kazakh, who was born in Moscow, in the first set because Rybakina was having trouble getting her big serve going. This gave Muchova a 3-2 lead.
Despite having opportunities, Rybakina was unable to convert her first five break points against the Czech.
However, Rybakina was able to score after Muchova made a terrible mistake when she missed an easy overhead shot on a set point in the tenth game. She broke again and held at love to take a 6-5 lead, but she also missed a set point.
Muchova held to force the tiebreaker, but when she double-failed on Rybakina’s second set point, she finally gave up the set with a whimper.
The Czech never lost his composure and won the second set without losing a break point. She took a quick 3-0 lead by breaking Rybakina, and she broke her again in the final game to force the third.
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