Elena Rybakina earned a 6-2 7-6 (7-2) victory over Sofia Kenin to book her berth in the semi-final of the WTA Dubai Tennis Championship on Thursday. (More Tennis News)
ꩲThe Kazakh was runner-up to Simona Halep in this same tournament five years ago and defeated 2020 Australian Open victor Kenin to return to the last four for the first time since.
🐼Rybakina improved to a 3-0 head-to-head record against Kenin but only after holding off a second-set fightback after she had led 3-1.
🧔In quotes reported by the WTA website, Rybakina said: "I started the match really well, but in the second, I lost a little bit of concentration. My serve didn't go [well], and Sofia, she's a great player – it's always difficult matches against her, but in the end, I found my game, and I'm really happy that I managed to win in two sets."
ꦅRybakina next faces Iga Swiatek's vanquisher Mirra Andreeva in the final four.
🌳Karolina Muchova, the 14th seed, reached a second semi-final of 2025 with a 6-2 7-5 victory over Sorana Cirstea. It represented a ninth straight WTA-level quarter-final win (excluding Eastbourne 2024, where she gave a walkover to Madison Keys).
💟Clara Tauson, who upset Aryna Sabalenka in the previous round, staved off three set points when 5-3 down in the opener before defeating Linda Noskova 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 to reach a first WTA 1000 semi-final.
Data Debrief: Rybakina's wait not quite as long as Venus or Kvitova's
🦄Rybakina's five-year gap between appearances in the semi-finals in Dubai can only be topped by Venus Williams (seven, 2002-2009) and Petra Kvitova (six, 2013-2019).
𝄹She has now made the semis in eight of the 11 WTA 1000 events she has played in (Wuhan, Cincinnati and Guadalajara the only exceptions).
﷽Muchova has now won 10 straight quarter-finals; the last she lost was to Rybakina in Indian Wells in 2023. She is the third player to reach WTA 1000 semis in each of the last three seasons alongside Swiatek and Rybakina.
ꦯTauson now has 14 wins on the WTA Tour in 2025, the joint-most alongside Swiatek and Keys for the calendar year. Indeed, since the format's introduction in 2009, she is only the second Danish or Scandinavian player to reach a WTA 1000 semi after Caroline Wozniacki.
