Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan acknowledged the crowd after defeating Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in three sets to reach the semi‑finals of the WTA and ATP Masters 1000 at Indian Wells. The Kazakh champion, who was the Australian Open runner‑up to Aryna Sabalenka in January, overcame a resilient Muchada, who had previously reached the quarter‑finals in Dubai before withdrawing with an abdominal injury. Rybakina capitalised on a drop in Muchova’s serve speed in the final set, but she needed three match points to close it out, squandering two with backhand errors as Muchova held serve in the penultimate game. After falling behind 0‑30 on her own serve, Rybakina sealed the win after two hours and 45 minutes, firing her sixth ace of the day.
“It was a really tough match today,” Rybakina said. “I served much better in the third. I didn’t start that well; I was a bit slower than usual. In the important moments I played well.” She will next face either world number one and defending champion Iga Świątek or 83rd‑ranked Romanian Sorana Cîrstea. Świątek, the French and US Open champion last year, aims to become only the second woman—after Martina Navratilova in 1990 and 1991—to win back‑to‑back Indian Wells titles. Rybakina is one of three players to beat Świątek this year, having shocked the Polish star in the round of 16 at the Australian Open.
Muchova started strongly, breaking Rybakina for a 3‑2 lead in the opening set as the Kazakh struggled to find her big serve. Rybakina had five break‑point opportunities but could not convert them. A crucial mistake from Muchova—an easy overhead miss on a set point in the 10th game—gave Rybakina a chance. She broke and held to lead 6‑5, but again failed to convert a set point. Muchova held serve to force a tiebreak, eventually losing the set after a double fault on Rybakina’s second set point. Undeterred, the Czech dominated the second set, facing no break points, breaking Rybakina twice to go up 3‑0 and sealing the set with another break in the final game, forcing a decisive third set.
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