Rybakina outlasts Sakkari; Azarenka battles past Putintseva into Miami semifinals

Florida, March 27 (IANS) 2023 finalist and No.4 seed Elena Rybakina made a return trip to the Miami Open semifinals with a 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4 win over No.8 seed Maria Sakkari.

Rybakina won the first set despite losing a 4-2 lead, and rallied from that deficit in the second set to earn herself two match points in the 10th game -- but she failed to convert.

A missed backhand in the net cost her the first, and a Sakkari down-the-line forehand was too much for her to handle on the second -- and a half-hour later, Indian Wells runner-up Sakkari forced a final set, WTA reports.

She will next need to knock off three-time tournament champion Victoria Azarenka to advance the final to the final at Hard Rock Stadium for the second year in a row.

Former World No.1 Azarenka defeated another Kazakh, Yulia Putintseva, in a three-set quarterfinal earlier Tuesday.

No.27 seed Azarenka needed 2 hours and 55 minutes of play to fend off unseeded Putintseva and clinch a spot in the Miami semifinals for the fifth time in her career.

Azarenka is playing Miami for the 15th time, having won the title in 2009, 2011 and 2016. She has 43 career match-wins at the event, fifth-most behind only Serena Williams (76), Venus Williams (67), Stefanie Graf (59) and Gabriela Sabatini (45).

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