BEIJING, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Kazakh Elena Rybakina cruised past eighth-seeded Petra Martic in the semifinal of the Dubai Championships on Saturday.
In a nail-biter of a match, the Kazakh player prevailed 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2)
"She has really good slices," Rybakina said of Martic. "Her serve, it's not flat like I played with Pliskova for example. It's a completely different style of game. It was not easy to start against her. But I tried to work for every point."
Rybakina knocked out recently-crowned Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova on the way to the final where she will face top-seeded Simona Halep.