Wimbledon winner Yelena Rybakina and two-time Grand Slam tournament winner Viktoria Azarenka are fighting for a final ticket at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Wimbledon winner Yelena Rybakina and two-time Grand Slam tournament winner Viktoria Azarenka are fighting for a final ticket at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Both tennis players won their quarter-final matches and will meet in a direct duel in the semi-finals on Thursday.
First, 23-year-old Kazakh Rybakina defeated former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia 6-2, 6-4. “I’m very happy to be here in the semi-finals for the first time. I was a little nervous, but I played very well,” said Rybakina, who was born in Russia and has played for Kazakhstan since 2018. The match had been temporarily interrupted in the first set due to rain.
Six hours later, Azarenka followed with a 6:4, 6:1 against the slightly favored Jessica Pegula from the USA. The 33-year-old Belarusian had won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013 before the birth of her son Leo. Pegula, number three, was also eliminated in her fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal.
“It hurts me to beat them,” Azarenka said afterwards: “I’m very proud that I went through with my game plan. It feels great to be in the semifinals.” In the hour of success, Asarenka thought of her son, “who wants his mother to come home” – but also of her dog: “It’s his birthday today.”
Source: Stern
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