Tennis: Rybakina defeats Ostapenko in rain-delayed Italian Open semi-final

19.05.2023 - 21:37 channelnewsasia.com

ROME : Seventh seed Elena Rybakina beat Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-4 in a rain-delayed semi-final at the Italian Open on Friday and will play Anhelina Kalinina in Saturday's final.Rybakina prevailed in a fairly straight-forward first set in a match delayed by more than an hour - and then interrupted - due to persistent rain.Ostapenko gained momentum in the second set and took a 3-0 lead but Rybakina shortened the distance to 4-2 just before rain briefly forced the players off court.Rybakina was leading 40-15 in the game when play got suspended once more but the Kazakh player came out on top after it resumed, and rallied to win five games in a row in total to seal the victory."It was a really tough day overall, with all the rain delays.

I'm just happy to be in the final," Rybakina told a news conference."I didn't start that well the second set. A bit low on energy, lost my serve.

So it was difficult. Then a few good shots from (Ostapenko), good serves. It changed very quickly."I'm happy that physically I can maintain and stay so long in the tournament till the end."In her third WTA 1000 final of the season Rybakina will face 30th seed Kalinina, after the Ukrainian survived a second-set scare against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in a battling 7-5 5-7 6-2 victory.Kudermetova started strongly, but the tables quickly turned as the Russian failed to convert eight of her nine break-points in the first set, with her 26-year-old opponent capitalising on her wastefulness to edge ahead in the encounter.Kalinina broke early in the second set to take a 3-2 lead and appeared on course for a comfortable win, but with her back against the wall Kudermetova mounted a spirited comeback, winning 16 straight points to level the match.

tennis rowing Semi-final Elena Rybakina Veronika Kudermetova Jelena Ostapenko Russia Ukraine Italy Rome Latvia

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