Elena Rybakina admitted it was extremely challenging to play against Jessica Pegula after beating the American at the Miami Open. On Friday night in Miami, Rybakina defeated Pegula 7-6 (3) 6-4 to progress into the Miami Open final.
In both sets, Rybakina several times had to recover from a break down. “Jessica, she played really well some moments. It’s not easy to play against her because she keeps the ball really low, and it’s difficult to redirect the ball.
I was playing today better when I was down. Then I think that I was doing everything correct. It was just not enough maybe energy. Maybe I was getting a bit mad when I was down. So I was trying to push myself,” Rybakina said after beating Pegula, per the WTA website.
After winning a tight first set, Rybakina absolutely did not want the match to go into a decider. “I think that I started a bit more aggressive, because also, I knew that if it’s gonna go to the third set, it’s gonna be much more difficult.
So I maybe risked a bit more even in the end of the second set,” Rybakina said.
How Rybakina defeated Pegula?
In the first set, Pegula was three times up by a break but Rybakina three times recovered. After Pegula failed to serve out for the first set twice, the opener had to be resolved in a tie-break.
In the first-set…
