The match lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes, concluding with a score of 4:6, 6:4, 3:6 in favor of Andreyeva. Despite the loss, Rybakina earned $181.4 thousand in prize money and maintained her seventh position in the WTA world ranking, notes sports24.kz.
In the tournament final, Mirra Andreyeva will face the winner of the match between Danish player Clara Tauson and Czech player Karolina Muchova. The tournament in Dubai, with a prize pool of $3.6 million, takes place from February 16 to 22 in Dubai. The reigning champion is Italian Jasmin Paolini, who defeated Russian Anna Kalinskaya in last year's final with a score of 4:6, 7:5, 7:5.
Earlier, on February 20, in the quarterfinals of the tournament, Rybakina achieved victory over American player Sofia Kenin (ranked 56th in the world) with a score of 6:2, 7:6 (7:2). Kursiv LifeStyle reported that Elena Rybakina plans to become the world’s number one player by 2025.