World No. 4 Elena Rybakina yesterday put on a serving masterclass as she stormed into the Brisbane International women’s final, while top seed Holger Rune battled through to the men’s decider.
Russian-born Kazakh Rybakina blasted eight aces past Czech teenager Linda Noskova on her way to a 6-3, 6-2 win, breaking her opponent once in the first set and twice in the second.
Rybakina, who won Wimbledon in 2022, has only lost 12 games on the way to the final and is yet to drop serve in a perfect build up to the Australian Open, where was runner-up last year to Aryna Sabalenka.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I didn’t expect I would play that well this week,” the second seed said, adding that she had been sick before arriving in Brisbane.
“It’s an amazing start to the year for me,” she said.
She made 75 percent of her first serves against Noskova, hitting 26 winners and making only 10 unforced errors to reach her 15th final on the WTA Tour.
Photo: AFP
She is to play Sabalenka after the Belarusian defeated compatriot Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-4 later yesterday.
Denmark’s Rune progressed with a tough 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) win over unseeded Roman Safiullin.
The world No. 8 absorbed the big-hitting of the Russian, who hit 27 clean winners, but also made 28 unforced errors.
Photo: AP
After Rune won the first set thanks to breaking Safiullin’s opening service game, the Russian had the better of the second set, but collapsed in the tiebreak.
In today’s final, Rune faces Bulgarian second seed Grigor Dimitrov, who ousted Australia’s Jordan Thompson 6-3, 7-5.
Across the Tasman, US Open champion Coco Gauff maintained her imperious form in the lead-up to the Australia Open by dismantling Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Auckland Classic.
Gauff, world No. 3 and top seed, is to defend the title she won a year ago against second seed Elina Svitolina, who defied a back injury to beat Wang Xiyu.
The Ukrainian needed two medical timeouts before fighting back to beat her unseeded Chinese opponent 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Gauff raced past fourth seed Navarro in a display that highlighted all her attacking weapons.
The 19-year-old served 10 aces and struck 26 winners, saying afterward that she knew what would be needed to quell her American compatriot.
“Just being aggressive, with my serve and my return,” she said. “We played a practice set before the tournament started and she was playing really well, so I knew it had to be my best game if I wanted to win.”
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