Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan hits a return against Shelby Rogers of the US during the Adelaide International tennis tournament January 7, 2022. — AFP pic
ADELAIDE, Jan 7 — Seventh seed Elena Rybakina fought back from a set down to prevail 3-6 6-3 6-2 in her Adelaide International quarter-final against American Shelby Rogers on Friday.
Rogers, who knocked out sixth seed Maria Sakkari in the previous round of the WTA 500 event, raced 4-1 ahead before closing out a strong opening set but Rybakina got the only break in the second and carried that lead to force a decider.
Rybakina won 90 per cent of her first serve points in the final set and sent down five aces en route to closing out the win in just over two hours. She will face either Japan’s Misaki Doi or Slovenian Kaja Juvan for a place in the final.
“My serve helped a lot (in turning the match around),” Rybakina said. “There were many ups and downs, I was rushing a lot. I tried to focus on every point, rally a bit more. It worked out.”
World number one Ash Barty will take on sixth seed Sofia Kenin later on Friday, while defending champion Iga Swiatek meets two-times Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka.
In the men’s Adelaide ATP 250 event, third seed Marin Cilic rolled past Serbia’s Laslo Djere 6-3 6-2 to reach the semi-finals.
Top seed Gael Monfils of France takes on American Tommy Paul while second seed Karen Khachanov faces Belarusian qualifier Egor Gerasimov. — Reuters