Elena Rybakina victorious in Abu Dhabi Open thriller against Ons Jabeur, reaches semi-final
Match Report
Defending champion Elena Rybakina is through to the semi-finals of the Abu Dhabi Open after seeing off Ons Jabeur in a thrilling clash 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(4) and she has won the sixth match in a row at the event.
It was a sixth career meeting between the pair as they continued a trend of a three setter in their clash showing the real closeness of their Head to Head. Jabeur threw the cat among the pigeons though serving out the second set albeit after she led 5-1 initially.
The third by comparison was sealed by the slimmest of margins. Rybakina saved a break point at 1-1, the first by either in the set and earned a break also later on in the sixth game after finding her way past Jabeur to make it 3-3 after the Tunisian had chances to hit back.
Jabeur hit back from 4-2 down and after saving two match points at 6-5. She had the momentum as she built a 4-2 lead in the deciding tie-break.
But perhaps unlike before, Rybakina wouldn't let the tie slip as the top seed escaped in two hours and 13 minutes winning the last five points of the match. She pulled out all the stops in the process.
Next up is Belinda Bencic who is through to her first semi-final since becoming a mother. She saw off Marketa Vondrousova earlier today. Ashlyn Krueger leads the bottom half as she faces either Linda Noskova or Magda Linette. Currently the Czech ace is 6-4 up going into the second set against the Pole. Then the semi-final line-up will be secured.
Pulling out ALL the stops! 🔥
— wta (@WTA) February 6, 2025
Elena Rybakina fights her way into the semifinals after defeating Jabeur 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(4). #MubadalaAbuDhabiOpen pic.twitter.com/LOODQc18cm
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- This is just getting beyond ridiculous!! Not to mention unsportsmanlike and unfair to serious up & coming contenders.
mandoist06-02-2025 - No, writer, we were not "stunned". If you knew your business you would have been aware of her statement last weekend re: her knee and retirement. The main take-away here is that Simona went out on her own terms. She surely wanted to play again after WTA & ITIA screwed her out of her final productive seasons. Personally, I believed she was going to make this announcement when I saw the President and his family in their box seats. Good for Simone -- now she can move on to other things as she said she would.mandoist04-02-2025
- It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025 - "If Novak did this, he would be defaulted for life. WTF." 🤣 WTF sounds like What Tennis Fury?! What Tennis Flurry??! I mean, se-rious-ly, it was actually the unfairness of the silly umpire's decision that is the issue here! Further, how come it was Gurin & his team who got disqualified? If this kind of thing happens in soccer, it would be the other guy getting the yellow or red card! Because after all, it was the Belgian who's foul it was so why then penalize the opponents for something they didn't instigate? Fouls in both basketball and soccer are read as a hinderance that has been caused by the player who INITIALLY instigated the hinderance. In this case, okay, it is tennis, but while the precise rules are different to either soccer or basketball, the same type of recognition as to whoever instigates a hinderance should apply, and in this case, it was the Belgian player.Sueiyin04-02-2025
- Medvedev talking to his form here. "Some actual deep problem." 🤣😂🤣MrAndreeva03-02-2025
- "Hopefully, the team around her will help... " Actually, the lack thereof seems to have been part of the problem(s). Another possibility is that, while dealing with legitimate surgeries, withdrawing, and otherwise passing on events, the competition has stepped-up in intensity while she was busy with traveling, photo shoots, and TV commercials.mandoist03-02-2025
- Ha-ha-ha... Translation: I'll help as long as I don't have to meet in person and endure the ongoing BS"mandoist03-02-2025
- Well said.mandoist03-02-2025
- So tennisuptodate doesn't even make this event a headline on this site? I had to find it hidden here. Not a word about Yastremska trying to ruin Alexandrova's celebration with her postgame actions?? According to WTA regulations, Yastremska has some punishment coming her way for walking-off court, blowing-off postgame rituals with the winner; including no photos, etc.mandoist03-02-2025
- "So while perhaps the big issue of having to wait for a call-up is there, so is the coaching carousel. .." Well, there you go. Emma's 'career' in one precise sentence. Sponsors bailing-out on her will follow (so far, only Porsche and Dior).mandoist02-02-2025
