Internationals de Strasbourg: Rybakina defeats Haddad Maia to play Samsonova in final

Elena Rybakina advanced to her first final in 13 months at the Internationaux de Strasbourg on Friday after a last-minute comeback victory against Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Rybakina, the top-seeded player remaining in the tournament, prevailed 7-6 (9-7) 1-6 6-2 in a tough two-hour and forty-five-minute match.

In a thrilling first set that ended in a tie-break, Rybakina missed the opportunity to grab the lead in the twelfth game of the opening set as the two sparred back and forth.

Rybakina then won the first set after saving a set point in the tie-break, but Haddad Maia stormed back to win five straight games after down 1-1 in the second.

The opening two games of the third set were also won by the Brazilian. Rybakina, however, replied forcefully, winning the following six games to advance to the championship match.

Later in the day, Rybakina easily defeated American Danielle Collins in straight sets, setting her up to play Liudmila Samsonova in Saturday’s final.

The eighth-seeded Samsonova defeated Collins 6-4 6-2 to get to her first clay-court WTA Tour final.

Despite Collins tying the score, Samsonova managed to overcome the Russian’s 4-2 lead after she rallied from a break loss in the opening set.

After that, she dominated the rest of the match and won with a powerful serve that her opponent couldn’t return.

Data Debrief: Rybakina out for glory

Ahead of the forthcoming French Open, Rybakina has regained her form after an uneven start to the season brought on by off-field distractions.

She will try to win her ninth WTA title in the Strasbourg tournament after winning three straight for the first time since the Dubai Duty Free Championship in January.