December 22, 2024
Beatriz Haddad Maia advanced into the semifinals of Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open for a second consecutive year after upsetting No.2 seed Ons Jabeur 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour and 30 minutes on Friday.
The Brazilian and No.6 seed who came through the longest match of the year on Wednesday after defeating Magda Linette 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 6-1 in 3 hours and 42 minutes, defeated Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(4) in 3 hours and 13 minutes.
Haddad Maia, who fell to eventual champion Belinda Bencic in the 2023 semifinals will face No.7 seed Daria Kasatkina next as she bids to make her first final of 2024. Kasatkina routed Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-0 in 74 minutes to reach her second semifinal of the season so far.
The top-half semifinal will see No.1 seed Elena Rybakina take on No.8 seed Liudmila Samsonova after both advanced in straight sets.
Rybakina defeated lucky loser Cristina Bucsa for the second time this year, coming from 3-1 down in the second set to win 6-1, 6-4.
Rybakina will face a stern test against Samsonova, who defeated No.4 seed Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 6-4. Samsonova is 4-0 against Rybakina at pro level, all on outdoor hard courts, including wins in the Montreal and Beijing semifinals last year.
The only time Rybakina was victorious over Samsonova at any level was in their only junior meeting in 2016, winning 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) on clay in Umag.
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