Underdog Elena Rybakina Stuns Frustrated Jabeur to Win Wimbledon - UBITENNIS
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Underdog Elena Rybakina Stuns Frustrated Jabeur to Win Wimbledon

In her first Grand Slam final, the Kazakh battled back from a set down to end the title dreams of the world No.2.

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image - twitter.com/wimbledon

Elena Rybakina has become the youngest women’s Wimbledon champion since 2011 after defeating a highly animated Ons Jabeur on Saturday afternoon.

The world No.23 prevailed 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, to become the first Kazakh player in history to win a Grand Slam title at 23. It is the first time in her career she has beaten a player currently ranked in the world’s top two and it is only the second time that she has beaten a top 10 player on the grass. She is also the fourth lowest-ranked player to ever play in the final at SW19 after the Williams sisters and Sabine Lisicki since the ranking system was introduced in 1975.

“I’m speechless. I was super nervous before the match and during the match. To be honest, I am glad it finished because I had never felt anything like that,” said the new champion.
“I want to congratulate Ons. Everything you have achieved is amazing and it is not only an inspiration for the young juniors but everybody. You have an amazing game and we don’t have somebody like this on the Tour. It’s a joy to play against you.”

In what was a roller-coaster encounter Rybakina had to contend with nerves and a blistering start from her opponent before weathering the storm en route to victory. Hitting a total of 29 winners against 33 unforced errors, as well as winning 60% of her first service points. Meanwhile, Jabeur at times was highly emotional as she felt her opportunity of winning a major slowly slip away.

In what was a clash between two Grand Slam final debutantes, second seed Jabeur took a stronghold just three games into the match by breaking the blistering Rybakina serve. The Kazakh came into the final with the fastest average first-serve speed (109 mph) in the women’s draw. However, the Tunisians’ use of the slice and hitting deep towards the baseline overwhelmed her rival who was visibly nervous. This was clear at the end of the opener when Jabeur closed it out with the help of four consecutive Rybakina unforced errors.

After suffering that blow, Rybakina hit back stronger against Jabeur at the start of the second frame. A forehand down the line set her up with a chance to break, which she did with the help of a shot from her rival crashing into the net. It was at this point when Jabeur began to show visible signs of frustration with glares toward her camp and throwing her racket in the air. To make matters worse for the world No.2, she later failed to convert three break-back points during a marathon five-deuce game before dropping serve once again in the following game. Meanwhile, a now much calmer Rybankina took the match into a decider with relative ease. Doing so with a 117 mph ace.

The 17th seed continued her momentum into the decider by working her way to a 2-0 lead. As for her rival, she reached boiling point during the early stages after screaming at her team in the crowd when she failed to win one of the points.

Battling until the end, Rybakina came back from a 0-40 deficit in the sixth game to maintain her lead as she closed in on the title. Serving for the biggest win of her career, she prevailed on her first championship point at the expense of yet another Jebeur unforced error, her 23rd of the match.

I never expected to be in the second week of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon. To be a winner is just amazing,” said Rybakina.
“I wouldn’t be here without my team, so a big thanks to them.”

Rybakina’s triumph is ironic for officials at Wimbledon who have banned Russian and Belarussian players from participating in response to the war in Ukraine. She was born in Russia and spent 18 years living there before deciding to cut her ties with the Russian Tennis Federation after they were no longer willing to invest in her career. It was roughly four years ago when she started to represent Kazakhstan after negotiating a deal. Something other players have also done before.

As for runner-up Jabeur, she can still hold her head up high after becoming the first African woman in the Open Era to play in a major final.

“I Want to congratulate Elena and her team. You deserve this. Hopefully, it will be me next time,” she said.
“I love this tournament very much. I feel really sad but in tennis, there is only one winner. I am really happy that I am inspiring many generations from my country. I hope they are listening.”

Rybakina produced a total of 173 winners during her run to the Wimbledon title this year.

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Elena Rybakina beats Victoria Azarenka to reach her fourth final of the season at the Miami Open

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Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4 0-6 7-6 (7-2) in the semifinal of the Miami Open to reach her fourth final of the season. 

Rybakina has improved to 4-0 in her head-to-head matches against Azarenka and has a seasonal record of 22 wins to 3 defeats. 

Both players were not able to convert their early break points in the opening set. 

Azarenka saved four break points in the first game to hold serve after three deuces. Rybakina fended off two break points in the sixth game. 

Rybakina earned the first break of the match in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. Azarenka earned a break point in the eighth game, but she was not able to convert it. Rybakina served out the first set with a hold at love. 

Azarenka broke three times to race through to a bagel win in the second set. The three-time Miami Open champion dropped just two points on serve in the second set. She made a double faul on one of these points. 

Rybakina stopped Azarenka’s seven-game streak by holding serve to draw level to 1-1 in the third set. Rybakina earned her fifth break point in the fifth game with a backhand pass, as Azarenka was serving at 2-2, and converted her chance to take a 3-2 lead, when Azarenka hit a backhand into the net. Rybakina consolidated the break by holding serve to take a 4-2 lead. Rybakina fended off a break point with her 10th ace, as she was serving for the match at 5-4, but Azarenka earned a second break point after a long baseline exchange. Azarenka converted her break point when Rybakina volleyed into the net. Rybakina earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2. 

Rybakina won two titles in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi and reached her first WTA 1000 final of the season in Doha on hard court. 

Last year the Kazakh player won in Indian Wells and was a win away from winning the Sunshine Double in the Miami Open final, where she lost to Petra Kvitova 7-6 (16-14) 6-2. 

Rybakina is just the third player in the last ten years to reach back to back Miami finals following Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty. 

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Alexander Zverev beats Fabian Maroszan to reach the semifinal in Miami

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Alexander Zverev beat Fabian Maroszan 6-3 7-5 to reach his third semifinal of the 2024 season at the Miami Open. 

Zverev will face the winner of the quarter final match between this year’s Indian Wells champion Carlos Alcaraz and 11 seed Grigor Dimitrov. Zverev reached the final at the Miami Open in 2018. 

Should Alcaraz beats Dimitrov, the Spanish player would meet Zverev for the second time this month. Alcaraz beat Zverev 6-3 6-1 in the quarter finals at Indian Wells. 

Zverev won 80% of his first serve points and saved the only two break points he faced. The German player committed just 10 unforced errors to Maroszan’s 23. 

Zverev converted his fourth break point in the third game of the first set and held serve at 15 to take a 3-1 lead. The 2021 German player saved a break point in the sixth game keepin a one-break lead. He closed out the first set 6-3 with a double break at 30.

Maroszan saved a break point in the second game of the second set to hold serve at love for 1-1. Zverev fended off a break point in the fifth game to hold serve after two deuces for 3-2. Both players held on serve until the 12th game. Zverev was leading 6-5 when Maroszan served to send the second set into the tie-break. The Hungarian player earned two game points, but he did not convert his chances. 

Zverev broke serve after two deuces on his first match point to seal the second set 7-5. 

“I love Miami. I always said that. I am happy to be back in these late stages of these tournaments, playing the best players in the world. I think there are only those left. I am looking forward to the challenge. If Maroszan keeps playing like that, he’s going to rise up the rankings very quickly. He always rushes you. I think when all players feel like they are in control, they feel like they manage the match and play the match a little bit in their own favour and against him, it’s not possible. That’s why he has such a great top 10 record of 4-2. He is an unbelievable player”, said Zverev. 

Maroszan was playing in his second quarter final at Masters 1000 level after reaching this stage in Shanghai in 2023. The Hungarian player has moved up 19 spots to a career-high of number 38 in the ATP Live Rankings. He will become the Hungarian player to reach the top 50 in the ATP Ranking. Earlier this tournament he claimed two top 10 wins over Holger Rune and Alex De Minaur. 

Zverev is aiming his sixth Masters 1000 title and his first trophy in the series since Cincinnati 2021. 

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Ekaterina Alexandrova upsets Jessica Pegula to reach the semifinal at the Miami Open

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World number 16 Ekaterina Alexandrova came back from one set down to upset Jessica Pegula 3-6 6-4 6-4 in 1 hour and 58 minutes reaching the semifinals at the Miami Open.

Alexandrova has drawn level to 1-1 in her head-to-head matches against Pegula. 

Alexandrova beat top 5 players In back-to-back matches for the first time in her career with her wins over world number 1 Iga Swiatek and Pegula. In her previous two rounds of the Miami Open she had defeated Donna Vekic and Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova. 

Alexandrova also beat 2022 Elena Rybakina in Adelaide last January and has the most wins in 2024 against players ranked in the top 5. She has a record of 6 wins to 17 defeats against top 5 players in her career.   

Pegula won four consecutive games from 2-3 down with two breaks to seal the first set 6-3. Alexandrova fought back breaking serve in the first game of the second set. The Russian player went up a double break in the seventh game to open up a 5-2 lead. Pegula pulled one break back in the eighth game for 3-5. Alexandrova served out the second set at love to force the match to the decider. 

Alexandrova earned an early break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Pegula broke straight back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3, when Alexandrova double faulted on her fourth break point. Pegula held serve in the seventh game after a fantastic rally, but Alexandrova earned the decisive break, when Pegula went long with her backhand return on the second break point. Alexandrova held serve on her second match point and fell to her knees in joy.  

“It was extremely difficult for me because Pegula played amazing. In the third set, there were sometimes the kind of rallies where I could not understand how it was possible to return that ball, but it always came back. I just tried to play every single point like I knew she was going to be everywhere, so I need to do something and I was trying to wait and use any opportunities that I got”, said Alexandrova. 

Alexandrova set up a semifinal against Danielle Collins, the last remaining US player. It will be the first head-to-head match between Alexandrova and Collins.  

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