Elena Rybakina says her decision to provide financial support to a group of young players is a way for her to say thank you for the support she has received from the Kazakh Tennis Federation. 

The reigning Wimbledon champion has donated 2.5 million Kazakhstani Tenge (£4500) to 14 players on the junior Tour to help fund their development for the future. She helped pick who would receive the donations after holding talks with the KTF about the country’s rising stars. Rybakina had previously pledged to provide support to young people in Kazakhstan after winning her maiden Grand Slam title last year but she hasn’t been able to finalize her donations until recently due to her commitments on the Tour. 

“We actually talked with the Federation earlier. It just happen now recently because I was travelling a lot and it’s not easy,” Rybakina told reporters following her quarter-final win over Martina Trevisan at the Miami Open. 
“We talked with the Federation as I don’t know the girls that well as I’m travelling all the time.”

The 22-year-old was born in Russia but became a neutralized Kazakh citizen back in 2018. Her decision to do so was aided by the financial support she has received from the Kazakh tennis federation to help her development in the sport. Last year she was asked if she felt Russian or Kazakh and responded by saying ‘tough question.’ 

“It was just a big help for me when I started working professionally, from the Federation, so I was thinking that there is going to be a good way to thank back,” she said of her donation. 
“Also, I think it’s important for young girls to have some kind of support since it’s not easy for everyone. Hopefully, they are gonna be around (on the Tour) soon.”

Rybakina is just two victories away from winning the sunshine double. A term used to describe a player winning events in both Indian Wells and Miami within the same year. She is currently on a 10-match winning streak and has only lost three sets during that period. 

Awaiting the world No.10 in the semi-finals of Miami will be home favourite Jessica Pegula who won her maiden WTA 1000 title last year in Mexico. Pegula saved two match points to defeat Anastasia Potapova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2), in her latest match. In their head-to-head, Rybakina is yet to defeat the American after losing to her twice in 2022. 

“For sure it’s gonna be a tough one. She’s a really good player and very consistent. I will try just to do my best to try to be fresh for that match.” She commented.

At the Miami Open Rybakina has already served 10 or more aces in four different matches. The last female player to do that at the same tournament was Serena Williams at the 2020 US Open. 

Carlos Alcaraz overcame Tommy Paul 6-4 6-4 in an entertaining match in 1 hour and 36 minutes in the fourth round of the Miami Open to keep his hopes of winning the Sunshine Double alive. Alcaraz won 17 of his 18 matches this year. He lost just one match against Cameron Norrie in the final of the Rio Open last February. 

Aicaraz is aiming to become the Sunshine Double after winning at Indian Wells earlier this month. 

The Spaniard hit 22 winners compared to 9 from Paul and won 12 of his 13 points. 

Both players held on serve in the first four games, before Alcaraz ran from the back of the court to get a ball back in play to break serve for 3-2. The player missed a chance for a double break. Paul earned a break point at 5-4 down, but Alcaraz held his serve to seal the opening set after 49 minutes. 

Alcaraz earned the decisive break in the third game of the second set. Paul was not able to break back. The next games went on serve and Alcaraz sealed his spot in the quarter final

“I feel at home here. It’s easy to play for me in Miami with all the energy I receive from the crowd, it’s amazing. I enjoy it and I think and I think it’s key why I play at such a high level for every match. I am really happy with the level I am playing and hope to keep going. I played a really great match and hope to play the same level in the quarter finals. I moved well, defended very well and attacked as well. If I play the same level I am going to have a lot of chances to get through the quarter finals”,said Alcaraz. 

Alcaraz set up a fourth round match against Taylor Fritz beat Hoger Rune 6-3 6-4 in 85 minutes to reach the quarter final at the Miami Open for the first time in his career. 

Fritz had never gone beyond the fourth round in his six previous appearances in Miami. This year he has won three consecutive matches against Emilio Nava, Denis Shapovalov and Holger Rune.

Fritz converted his break point in the eighth game to win the opening set 6-3. The US player broke Rune in the opening game of the second set, where he made just three unforced errors and won 12 of his 15 first serve points. 

Fritz has improved his win-loss record to 20-5 this season and won an ATP Tour title in Delray Beach. The US player dropped to 10^th position in the ATP Ranking after his defeat against Jannik Sinner in the quarter finals in Indian Wells, where he was defending his last year’s titles. 

““It helps when I can grab early breaks in the sets and just play solid tennis. Serve well and hold onto the breaks. That always makes a match a lot easier. I could not play aggressively in my first two matches because my opponents were hitting every ball as hard as they could. Rune still crushes the ball, but it was nice to feel I had some more time. The first two rounds, it was it was impossible to play my game, I just had to make balls. Today when I got the chance to be aggressive I just wanted to serve well and try not to give many free points. I think my average level of tennis is a lot higher. I don’t need to show up and play my best, that level is higher than it used to be. I feel I can come through and win a lot of matches”, said Fritz. 

Karen Khachanov beat Stefanos Tsitsipas for the first time in his career with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4. 

Tsitsipas was not able to convert two break points and dropped his serve in the fifth game of the second set.

Khachanov will face either Lorenzo Sonego or Francisco Cerundolo. Emil Ruusuvuori came back from a set and a break down to beat Botic Van de Zandschulp 4-6 6-4 7-5. Ruusuvuori set up a quarter final against Jannik Sinner.  

Jannik Sinner beat Andrey Rublev 6-2 6-4 to reach the quarter finals on Grandstand at the Miami Open for the third consecutive year. The Italian player beat Laslo Djere, Grigor Dimitrov and Rublev to advance to the quarter final without dropping a set. He has moved up to 10^th in the ATP Live Ranking. 

Sinner converted three of the five break points he faced to improve his head-to-head record to 3-2 against Rublev. 

Sinner reeled off four consecutive games from 1-1 with two breaks in the third and fifth games en route to winning the first set 6-2. The 2021 Miami Open finalist earned the only break point of the second set in the seventh game and converted it to seal the second set 6-4 clinching his 19^th tour-level match win of the season. 

The seven-time ATP Tour hit 28 winners to just 8 unforced errors. He also won 86% of his first serve points and did not face a break point. 

Sinner is aiming to reach his second consecutive Masters 1000 semifinal after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells. 

“I think today I served better, maybe the best match in Miami so far. I am happy about that. I will try to keep it going. I just tried to play with the right tactics. Playing bombs after bombs, it’s never easy. I think I changed my game a little bit, so I am very happy about that”, said Sinner.