Azarenka si prenota per la semifinale di Miami, pronta a sfidare Rybakina

“V” comes Victoria. Six years after her last appearance, Vika Azarenka is back in the semifinals of the “Miami Open”, the fourth WTA 1000 event of the season (combined with the second ATP Masters 1000 of 2024) with a prize money of $8,770,480 that is heading towards the final stages on the cement courts of the Hard Rock Stadium (home of the Miami Dolphins NFL football team) in Florida.

In the quarterfinals, the 34-year-old from Minsk, ranked 32nd and seeded 27th, defeated Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 76(4) 16 63 after a battle of almost three hours.

On Thursday, the Belarusian – who has triumphed in Miami in 2009 (defeating Serena Williams), 2011 (beating Sharapova), and 2016 (winning against Kuznetsova and achieving the “Sunshine Double”) – will compete for a spot in the final against another Kazakh player, Elena Rybakina, ranked 4th and seeded 4th, who won against the Greek Sakkari 75 67(4) 64 in over two hours and three quarters of play. The 24-year-old with Moscow origins, a finalist twelve months ago (losing to Kvitova), has won all three previous encounters with Vika, including the most recent one at the Dubai’s second round in February (where Azarenka retired due to a physical issue at the beginning of the third set).