Rybakina defeats Ostapenko in Italian Open semifinal

Seventh seed Elena Rybakina beat Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-4 in a rain-delayed semifinal at the Italian Open on Friday and will play Anhelina Kalinina in Saturday's final.

Rybakina prevailed in a fairly straight-forward first set in a match delayed by more than an hour - and then interrupted - due to persistent rain.

Ostapenko gained momentum in the second set and took a 3-0 lead but Rybakina shortened the distance to 4-2 just before rain briefly forced the players off court.

Rybakina was leading 40-15 in the game when play got suspended once more but the Kazakh player came out on top after it resumed, and rallied to win five games in a row in total to seal the victory.

"It was a really tough day overall, with all the rain delays. I'm just happy to be in the final," Rybakina told a news conference.

"I didn't start that well the second set. A bit low on energy, lost my serve. So it was difficult. Then a few good shots from (Ostapenko), good serves. It changed very quickly.

"I'm happy that physically I can maintain and stay so long in the tournament till the end."

Sliding into yet another Hologic WTA Tour 1000 final ??

[7] Elena Rybakina defeats Ostapenko, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the final two in Rome!#IBI23 pic.twitter.com/mmNKkzNN9n

— wta (@WTA) May 19, 2023

In her third WTA 1000 final of the season Rybakina will face 30th seed Kalinina, after the Ukrainian survived a second-set scare against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in a battling 7-5 5-7 6-2 victory.

Kudermetova started strongly, but the tables quickly turned as the Russian failed to convert eight of her nine break-points in the first set, with her 26-year-old opponent capitalising on her wastefulness to edge ahead in the encounter.

Kalinina broke early in the second set to take a 3-2 lead and appeared on course for a comfortable win, but with her back against the wall Kudermetova mounted a spirited comeback, winning 16 straight points to level the match.

Kalinina headed off for a lengthy bathroom break to regroup before the third set and emerged a player reborn, playing with renewed confidence to win the first four games of the decider en route to sealing a spot in her first WTA 1000 final.