Top seed Elena Rybakina set up a final date with Daria Kasatkina when she defeated Liudmila Samsonova in the second semi-final of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open here on Saturday.
Rybakina overcame the eighth seed Samsonova 6-0, 4-6, 6-2. Having bulldozed her in the first set, Rybakina dropped a set to Samsonova. But she regrouped in the third set to seal the match in her favour.
Fourteenth seed Kasatkina also came through a three-set thriller to defeat No.12 Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) in the first semi-final.
The two-hour and 59-minute victory put Kasatkina into her second WTA Tour final of the season, having made her first in Adelaide last month. The victory is Kasatkina’s first over a Top 20 opponent since defeating No.18 Karolina Pliskova at Eastbourne last summer.
Facing Haddad Maia for the third time, Kasatkina dominated the 43-minute opening set by breaking the Brazilian’s serve four times. Haddad Maia turned the tables in the second set, as she took advantage of more passive play from Kasatkina to take the match into a decider.
In the 84-minute final set, Kasatkina found herself down a break twice but refused to let Haddad Maia build up any momentum. After getting back on serve at 3-3, Kasatkina saved a total of four break points down the stretch to force a deciding tie-break.
In the tie-breaker, Kasatkina outlasted Haddad Maia in a lengthy exchange to build a 2-0 lead and then broke open the scoreline with a perfect defensive lob to extend her, ultimately, insurmountable lead and tally her first win in three tries over the Brazilian.
Written with Reuters inputs