Elena Rybakina and Victoria Azarenka emerge victorious from mammoth Miami Open tussles

Azarenka will face Elena Rybakina after both won matches lasting almost three hours.

(AP)

Elena Rybakina survived a gruelling Miami Open quarter-final against Maria Sakkari on Tuesday as the former Wimbledon champion advanced to the last four for a second straight year with a 7-5 6-7(4) 6-4 victory.

The fourth seed, runner-up in 2023, won the first set with a late break before Sakkari – who reached the final in Indian Wells last week – survived two match points to edge a tight second set on the tie break. But Rybakina, who had already gone the distance twice in Miami, broke in the seventh game of the decider and served out to win – more than an hour after her first match points.

Rybakina, who will meet Victoria Azarenka for a place in the final, needed nearly three hours in total to beat Sakkari. The Greek saved two match points in the second set before ultimately succumbing to the fourth seed’s overwhelming serve in the final game of the third set.

“I have no words because I’m so tired,” Kazakh Rybakina said. “It was such a tough battle. I got a little bit lucky with new balls, so it was easier to serve it out ... now, I just need to recover.”

Rybakina, the world number four and 2022 Wimbledon champion, will need to bring her best again when she takes on three-time tournament champion and former world number one Azarenka.

The veteran Belarusian player contended with a near hour-long stoppage in the first set because of a power outage to the electronic line-calling system before beating Yulia Putintseva 7-6(4) 1-6 6-3 earlier in the day.

Azarenka saved three set points en route to clinching the first set tiebreak in the 90-minute opener before her unseeded opponent raised her game in the second to force a decider.

Azarenka proved too solid down the stretch, firing an unreturnable serve on match point.

“Very happy with today’s win,” the 34-year-old told reporters. “It’s good to be back in the later stages of the tournament, it’s what I work for.”

Azarenka will face Rybakina (USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con)

The 34-year-old saved three set points at 5-4 down in the opening set, then failed to convert two of her own before she held her nerve in the tie-break with some decisive forehands.

Putintseva hit back hard in the second, giving up a solitary game as she found her rhythm, but the momentum shifted when Azarenka salvaged a pair of break points at the start of the decider.

After regaining control she did not take advantage of her first match point at 5-2 up, but made no mistake when the chance opened up again in her next service game.

Agencies