Elena Rybakina defeated Jessica Pegula in three sets to advance to the semifinals of the Miami Open for the third time.
The third seed won 2-6 6-3 6-4 over fifth-seeded Pegula in a contest that lasted two hours and 15 minutes, marking her fifth straight win over the American in the last seven months.
The Australian Open champion will now face world number one Aryna Sabalenka or Hailey Baptiste, who won her first Grand Slam final of the year.
“Matches with Jessica are always very difficult matches,” Rybakina said after the match. “She started playing well and I was a little impatient and frustrated, but I’m glad we bounced back in the second set and were able to fight back. Then we just fought, and the early break helped a little.”
“I got lucky a few times. I tried to get to the net a little more. Jessica plays very fast and sometimes short, so it wasn’t easy to just sit back. I had to adapt a little bit.”
Rybakina started the match slowly with 12 unforced errors in the opening set which saw Pegula take a 4-0 advantage.
The decisive moment came in the fifth game of the second inning, when Pegula wasted three break points at 2-2 to seal the set in favor of Rybakina.
Rybakina marched on to win the deciding set, finishing the match with 15 aces, but ended up with just 98 points to Pegula’s 100.
The first women’s semifinal takes place on Thursday when Coco Gauff faces Karolina Muchova.
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