FILE PHOTO: Tennis - China Open - China National Tennis Center, Beijing, China - September 30, 2024 Ashlyn Krueger of the U.S. in action during her round of 32 match against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
American Ashlyn Krueger will go for her second career WTA title at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open after she took down Czech opponent Linda Noskova 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the semifinals Friday.
The 20-year-old Kruger will face Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, who rallied to upset No. 1 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Krueger, ranked No. 51 in the world, saved four of six break points against Noskova and won 43 of her 59 first-service points (72.9 percent). In her only other finals appearance on tour, she won the 2023 Japan Women's Open; that was a WTA 250-level event, while Abu Dhabi is in the more prestigious WTA 500 tier.
Rybakina saved nine of 13 break points, as well as three match points, but it wasn't enough to stave off Bencic, who took control of the second set by winning the first three games and pulled away midway through the third.
Transylvania Open
Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus charged back to stun No. 4 seed Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the quarterfinals in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Kalinina held the advantage in most major statistics, including aces (4-0), break points saved (12 of 18) and break points converted (seven of nine). But Sasnovich charged back from a 5-3 third-set deficit to force a tiebreaker, and after falling behind 3-1, she ripped off six straight points for the upset.
Her reward is to face No. 1 seed Anastasia Potapova of Russia in the semis after Potapova beat Germany's Ella Seidel 6-2, 6-3. Czech fifth seed Katerina Siniakova defeated Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova 6-3, 7-6 (7), and Lucia Bronzetti toppled No. 7 seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1, 6-4 in an all-Italian battle.
--Field Level Media
