WORLD number three Elena Rybakina has been bundled out of the Adelaide International quarter finals, suffering her first loss of the 2024 season at the hands of Ekaterina Alexandrova. The first seed was skittled 6-3, 6-3, breaking a streak of six wins which included her title run at the Brisbane International.

With power hitting at the start of either set, Alexandrova shot out to sizeable leads and held firm in the face of Rybakina’s resurgences. The prime example came in the first set, where she held a point to lead 5-0 but was pegged back to 4-3. Eventually, she got up 6-3.

It was a similar story in the second as Alexandrova achieved a 5-0 head start, only to concede the next three games. She recovered to take out the straight sets victory and move to a 3-1 overall record against her higher-ranked Kazakh adversary.

Alexandrova also advances to the semi final stage where a meeting with sixth seed Jelena Ostapenko awaits. The Latvian progressed with a straight sets win over Marta Kostyuk, 7-5, 6-3, taking just over 90 minutes to do so on the back of 30 winners.

“It was a tough match, of course, but finally I won in two sets, I managed it,” Ostapenko said post-match. “I feel like I was striking the ball well today. Even in the first set when it was 5-2 to 5-5, I still was playing my game, and then at the end I found it. Just happy to be through.”

On the other side of the draw, Daria Kasatkina advanced in a walkover after her quarter final opponent Laura Siegemund withdrew from their match. The world number 15 has appeared in the last two finals in Adelaide. She’ll face second seed Jessica Pegula, who came from a set and break down to beat qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Results | Day 4 (Quarter Finals):
E. Alexandrova def. E. Rybakina [1] 6-3, 6-3
J. Pegula [2] def. A. Pavlyuchenkova 6-7, 7-5, 6-4
D. Kasatkina def. L. Siegemund (WO)
J. Ostapenko [6] def. M. Kostyuk 7-5, 6-3

Semi Final Draw:
E. Alexandrova vs. J. Ostapenko [6]
D. Kasatkina vs. J. Pegula [2]

Saville soars into Hobart semis

Australian Daria Saville has progressed to the Hobart International semi finals after upsetting third seed Lin Zhu in three sets, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. The world number 195, who is on the comeback trail from an ACL tear in 2022, will now face top seed Elise Mertens in the semis – a two-time singles champion in Hobart.

Saville recovered from a frustrating first set to find form in the second, gritting her teeth with marvellous defence before striking on break opportunities. She sealed the match in the third, with a more aggressive approach helping her turn the tide of the match.

“It means the world being in the semi finals at a home tournament, I’m so happy,” Saville said post-match. “She was the better player in the first set for sure but I found my game and didn’t give up. I tried to turn it around by being more aggressive and it paid off.”

Meanwhile, Mertens defeated Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus in straight sets to book her spot in the semis, 7-5, 6-0. Second seed Emma Navarro needed three sets to get past Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova – 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 – faring well off her first serve but dishing up four double faults.

Navarro will face Yue Yuan for a spot in the final, after the 25-year-old took out a tight two-setter against Yulia Putintseva, 7-5, 7-6. Yuan produced 23 break points but only made good on six of them, equal to her Kazakh opponent on 11 opportunities.

Results | Day 6 (Quarter Finals):
Y. Yuan def. Y. Putintseva 7-5, 7-6
D. Saville def. L. Zhu [3] 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
E. Navarro [2] def. V. Tomova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
E. Mertens [1] def. A. Rus 7-5, 6-0

Semi Final Draw:
E. Mertens [1] vs. D. Saville
Y. Yuan vs. E. Navarro [2]