Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina kept alive her hopes of a sunshine double after she defeated Martina Trevisan in the quarter-final of the Miami Open.
The 23-year-old defeated her opponent 6-3, 6-0. Earlier this month, the 2023 Australian Open women’s singles runners-up won the Indian Wells Masters and is currently on a 12-match winning streak.
In the Round of 32, Rybakina found herself in trouble after facing a match point in the second set against Spain’s Paula Badosa, but she made a comeback to win the match 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Thereafter, she beat Elise Mertens and Trevisan, and is two steps away from winning her second WTA 1000 title after Indian Wells.
“For sure, I don’t have any pressure. I know that it’s very difficult and not many players did it. Plus, I was match point down the other match, so I really don’t think so far in the draw. I just need to focus match by match, and I have a tough opponent. Of course, it would be amazing to achieve something like that, but it’s still far away,” Rybakina said after the match.
In the first set against Trevisan, Rybakina earned an early break to take a 3-1 lead. But Trevisan broke back to make it 4-3. But Rybakina, also the 2022 Wimbledon champion, won all the games in the set from there on.
The second set was a completely one-sided affair as it took only 69 minutes for Rybakina to close out the match. She smashed 10 aces and 23 winners on her way to the semis. She also became the first player on the WTA circuit to hit 200 aces this season.
Rybakina will face the winner of the quarter-final between World No.3 Jessica Pegula and Anastasia Potapova.