In a thrilling day of tennis action, unseeded Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia caused a major upset by defeating No. 1 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday at the Adelaide International in Australia. Alexandrova showcased her resilience by saving five of seven break points and stringing together an impressive run of seven consecutive games during the match. This victory brings her head-to-head record against Rybakina to 3-1, setting up a semifinal clash with No. 6 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who secured her spot with a 7-5, 6-3 win against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
The other Adelaide International semifinal will feature No. 2 Jessica Pegula, who rallied for a hard-fought 6-7 (1), 7-5, 6-4 win against Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Pegula will face unseeded Russian Daria Kasatkina, who advanced to the semis through a walkover after Laura Siegemund of Germany withdrew before their scheduled match.
Over at the Hobart International, top seed Elise Mertens of Belgium demonstrated her prowess with a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands. Mertens saved six of seven break points and closed out the match by winning the final eight games. Her semifinal opponent will be unseeded Australian Daria Saville, who secured a hard-fought 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 3 seed Lin Zhu of China.
The second Hobart International semifinal will feature a clash between second-seeded Emma Navarro and China’s Yue Yuan. Navarro overcame a slow start to secure a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory against Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova. In the other quarterfinal, Yue Yuan held off Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva with a 7-5, 7-6 (4) win.
As the tension rises in both tournaments, tennis enthusiasts can expect more exciting matchups as the players vie for a coveted spot in the finals. The Adelaide International and Hobart International are living up to their reputation as arenas for fierce competition and unexpected twists in the world of professional tennis.
