Rybakina, Kasatkina win three-setters to move into Abu Dhabi final

No.1 seed Elena Rybakina and No.7 Daria Kasatkina each won three-set semifinals on Saturday to line up a championship showdown at the WTA 500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.

Rybakina fought past No.8 seed Liudmila Samsonova 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 in the evening semifinal. Earlier in the day, Kasatkina came through a thriller to defeat No.6 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2). 

Rybakina and Kasatkina have split their four lifetime meetings. Rybakina prevailed in their most recent meeting, squeaking past Kasatkina 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(8) in last year's Montreal quarterfinals.

Breakthrough win for Rybakina: With her victory, World No.5 Rybakina earned her first tour-level win over 15th-ranked Samsonova. Samsonova had won all four of their previous professional meetings.

Highlights: Rybakina def. Samsonova

Despite a routine first set, Rybakina had to battle hard to collect that first win over Samsonova, but the 2022 Wimbledon champion ultimately won in 1 hour and 51 minutes of action.

"Really happy with the way I played today, especially the start of the match," Rybakina said afterward. "In the second set, the focus and energy went a bit down, but still I stayed there and kept on fighting. Really happy that I managed to win, and it was a really good match for me."

Rybakina is now one win away from becoming the second player to take home two titles in 2024, after Jelena Ostapenko. In the first week of the season, Rybakina captured the WTA 500 title in Brisbane.

On Saturday, Rybakina stormed through the first set, where she hit zero unforced errors and never faced a break point. However, Samsonova slammed a forehand winner down the line to break Rybakina in the opening game of the second set, and she held that lead all the way through the set to tie up the match.

In the third set, Rybakina took control for good by reaching triple break point at 2-1, then earning the critical break off of a Samsonova double fault. Rybakina drew more errors from Samsonova at 5-2, clinching one more break for good measure to close out the victory.

Rybakina finished with an equal amount of winners and unforced errors, 15 of each. Samsonova had more winners, with 22, but that was doubled by her 44 unforced errors.

Kasatkina prevails: Kasatkina's 2-hour and 59-minute victory put Kasatkina into her second final of the season, having made her first in Adelaide last month. The victory is Kasatkina's first over a Top 20 opponent since defeating No.18 Karolina Pliskova at Eastbourne last summer. 

"Really happy with the way I got this win," Kasatkina said afterward. "She was not giving me anything for free, I had to earn it so much."

Facing Haddad Maia for the third time, Kasatkina dominated the 43-minute opening set by breaking the Brazilian's serve four times. It was the first set she had taken off Haddad Maia in five tries. Haddad Maia turned the tables in the second set, as she took advantage of more passive play from Kasatkina to take the match into a decider. 

In the 84-minute final set, Kasatkina found herself down a break twice but refused to let Haddad Maia build any momentum. After getting back on serve at 3-3, Kasatkina saved a total of four break points down the stretch to force a deciding tiebreak. 

There, Kasatkina outlasted Haddad Maia in a lengthy exchange to build a 2-0 lead and then broke open the scoreline with a perfect defensive lob to extend her, ultimately, insurmountable lead and tally her first win in three tries over the Brazilian.

"The tiebreak, I gave it everything," Kasatkina said. "I went for it, and really appreciate it for myself, because for me, it’s not easy to play this way, especially in circumstances like this, where it’s so important. Really happy about it."

Kasatkina finished the match with 44 winners to 37 unforced errors, outpacing Haddad Maia's 31 winners and 38 unforced errors. Kasatkina is bidding to win her first title since 2022 Granby and her first WTA 500 title since 2022 San Jose.