Rybakina defeats Azarenka in 3rd-set tiebreaker to reach Miami Open final

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina defeated No. 27 Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (2) in Thursday's semifinals of the Miami Open.

Rybakina, ranked fourth on the WTA Tour, will face No. 14 Ekaterina Alexandrova or unseeded Danielle Collins in Saturday's final. She also made last year's final before losing in straight sets to Petra Kvitová.

A day off will likely be welcome for Rybakina, who has been pushed to three sets in all but one match this tournament. Thursday’s match lasted 2 hours, 33 minutes.

Rybakina appeared to take control when she broke Azarenka's serve to take a 3-2 lead in the third set. Azarenka fought off four break points before hitting a two-handed backhand into the net to give Rybakina the game.

It was quite a response from the second set when Azarenka lost only two points on her serve, and one came on a double fault.

But Azarenka wasn't done. With Rybakina serving for the match, Azarenka broke back to even the final set at 5-5. Both players then held serve to send the match to a tiebreaker, which belonged to Rybakina, who went up 6-1. She wrapped up the victory with a cross-court forehand.

Rybakina, 24, is seeking her third title this year. She is 4-0 in her career against Azarenka, including two victories this year.

Azarenka, 34, was attempting to become the tournament's oldest winner. She became the second-oldest semifinalist; 36-year-old Venus Williams made the semis in 2017.

Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev reached the men's semifinals with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over unseeded Fabian Marozsan. Zverev will play top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz or No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov on Friday.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis