STUTTGART: Top seed Elena Rybakina brushed aside Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-1 in the Stuttgart Open semi-finals on Saturday to book her place in the final against Karolina Muchova.

Rybakina and Andreeva traded holds in the opening set before Rybakina broke to move ahead 4-2. Andreeva responded to level at 4-4, but the Russian-born Kazakh world number two raised her intensity to close it out.

Rybakina was relentless in the second set, surging to a 5-0 lead before sealing victory in one hour and 17 minutes.

Andreeva had arrived in Stuttgart in fine form after winning the Linz Open title and having knocked out six-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek and defending champion Jelena Ostapenko in Stuttgart.

Rybakina reached her third final of the year. The 26-year-old lifted the Australian Open trophy and finished runner-up at Indian Wells.

Earlier, Czech seventh seed Muchova reached the final by overcoming Ukrainian fourth seed Elina Svitolina 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Muchova broke Svitolina in the opening game and surged into a 3-0 lead. Svitolina, the Australian Open semi-finalist, took the next two games to close the gap, but Muchova sealed the opening set.

Momentum swung sharply when Svitolina found her rhythm, racing into a 3-0 lead and stretching it to 5-1 before taking the set. The decider remained finely poised until Muchova made her move at 4-4, earning a decisive break before sealing win in two hours and 14 minutes.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2026