Kazakh Elena Rybakina, world No.4, qualified for the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Doha by eliminating Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-2 in 1 h 34 min.
Already victorious last weekend at the Abu Dhabi tournament, her second success in 2024 after that recorded in Brisbane, the Kazakh will face the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (32nd in the world) in the semi-final, who beat the American Danielle Collins ( N.63).
Broken twice in the first set and trailing 4-1, the Kazakh then put together five games in a row to win the first set 6-4. The second was more expeditious, and after saving several break points at 2-1, Fernandez finally lost his serve at 3-2, then one last time at 5-2.