DEFENDING her 2024 Abu Dhabi WTA 500 title, top seed Elena Rybakina reached the final four of the event thanks to a hard-fought three-set victory over former world number two, Ons Jabeur. It was great signs for both players that Rybakina was able to pull through, while for the returning Jabeur after an injury-interrupted last 12 months, going toe-to-toe with one of the best players in the world would have been pleasing.

In the end, the match went the way of the Kazakh, getting up 6-2 4-6 7-6 to advance through to the semi-finals in two hours and 15 minutes. It looked like being a one-sided contest early as Rybakina needed just 29 minutes to wrap up the first set, but the match got turned on its head in the second set. Jabeur won five of the first six games.

Rybakina broke to love in the eighth game and held a second consecutive time to close the game to 5-4, though Jabeur held her nerve thanks to that early double break to serve out the set 6-4. It set the match up for a thrilling conclusion, and fans that flocked to the stadium were not disappointed.

After Rybakina broke to go 4-2 up, Jabeur responded with an immediate break of serve and then the pair went toe-for-toe until the tiebreaker. The top seed had two match points at 15-40 in the 12th game, but Jabeur battered them away and sent the match into a deciding tiebreak.

The tiebreak was no more conclusive with the two level at 4-4, before Rybakina went two points clear to set up a third match point. The unseeded Tunisian saved one, but could not save the second, and the defending champion was able to survive another thriller by getting up 7-5 in that tiebreaker.

Rybakina described the match as a “big rollercoaster” and credited Jabeur with her work throughout the three sets.

“It was an extremely difficult match. Ons, she played really well — we played so close, every game, and I’m really happy that I managed to win … and to get through another round,” she said post-match.

Jabeur powered her way to a massive 49 winners – to Rybakina’s 33 – while both played committed 42 unforced errors. The Kazakh’s reliability on serve – bar the second set was noticeable, winning 77 per cent of her first serve points compared to the Tunisian’s 57 per cent. In the end though, just five points separated the players and it was Rybakina on the right side of the result.

“It’s not easy,” Rybakina said of the match points. “The first point, she played really well and the second one, I just rushed and made a mistake, but I knew that it was a tough match no matter what, and I just needed to fight and play point by point.”

Rybakina now faces wildcard and former Top 5 player Belinda Bencic in the Abu Dhabi semi-finals. Bencic defeated fellow wildcard Marketa Vondrousova in the early match, 7-5 6-3. In the other results, Linda Noskova defeated Poland’s Magda Linette in straight sets 6-4 6-3, and will now face American surprise packet Ashlyn Krueger who rolled eighth seeded Canadian Leylah Fernandez, 7-5 4-6 6-2.

2025 ABU DHABI WTA 500 – QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[1] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) defeated Ons Jabeur (TUN) 6-2 4-6 7-6
Ashlyn Kreuger (USA) defeated [8] Leylah Fernandez (CAN) 7-5 4-6 6-2
Linda Noskova (CZE) defeated Magda Linette (POL) 6-4 6-3
[WC] Belinda Bencic (SUI) defeated [WC] Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) 7-5 6-3