Third-seeded Elena Rybakina delivered 15 aces and saved 8 of 10 break points while ousting fifth-seeded Jessica Pegula 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the semifinals of the Miami Open in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Rybakina overcame a shaky start to defeat Pegula for the fifth time in seven months, including in the Australian Open semifinals en route to winning the title in Melbourne.
Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, will face either top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka or unseeded Hailey Baptiste in Thursday’s semis. Those women met on Wednesday night.
A matchup with Sabalenka would be a rematch of the Aussie Open final.
Pegula sprinted out of the gates to win the first four games and eventually the first set before Rybakina rallied to win in two hours, 15 minutes.
“It’s always very difficult playing Jessica,” Rybakina said. “She started playing well, and I was rushing and frustrated, but I’m happy that I managed to bounce back and turn it around in the second set.”
Rybakina smashed seven aces in the second set and saved all four break points to even the match. She added five aces in the third set whole closing out the match.
For Pegula, who is 0-3 this year against Rybakina, it was another frustrating outing.
“I’m putting myself right there,” Pegula said. “I’m giving myself the chances and the opportunities, I think I have elevated my game, I’ve become a better player. I am definitely challenging them. … That’s kind of all I can ask of myself and, hopefully, some of the wins will come along.”
No. 4 seed Coco Gauff will oppose 13th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the other semifinal.
–Field Level Media
