The Pan Pacific Open semi-finals will take place on Saturday in Tokyo with Elena Rybakina still in the running for back-to-back titles after securing glory in Ningbo last week but she faces Linda Noskova in the semi-finals who will aim to end the run of the Kazakh.Albeit perhaps it might not be such a bad thing for Rybakina who has admitted she is tired and while she is unlikely to pull out, she has achieved what she set out to do in the past few weeks usurping Mirra Andreeva for the last WTA FInals spot at the Pan Pacific Open.
So from now on it is solely rankings that will be on the mind of the former Wimbledon champion. Against Noskova though, Rybakina has often dominated this match-up. She’s never dropped more than four games against Noskova in a set and she should be able to relax with less pressure on her shoulders. But in reality that pressure may in fact gleam a bit of an issue for her in that she may play too freely and allow Noskova to have the glimmer of hope she has not had before.
Both players aren’t the fastest on court and rely mainly on power game and crafty play to outfox their opponents. The latter will have to come into play for Rybakina to expose her perhaps tired footwork after playing two tournaments in a row. She has played seven matches in a week and facing Victoria Mboko last round, she was mightily pushed at times with the Canadian having set points. Mboko though had beaten her the last time they played so she no longer had her number when it came to this tie.
However while Rybakina might be tired, it is a match-up that in reality has one winner on paper and that is the Kazakh. They played only a few weeks ago after Noskova had lost in the final of the China Open and Rybakina won 6-3, 6-4 in albeit more sweltering conditions but really gives a gauge as to what she will likely produce whether tired or not.
Noskova this week too has benefited which might give her a small advantage from the fact that two of her opponents have given up. In her opening round against Moyuka Uchijima, she withdrew giving her a bye through. She then faced a tough examination against McCartney Kessler winning in three but she has only played four sets all week with Anna Kalinskaya withdrawing after a set and a break in their tie on Friday. While this may work for her given also last week she lost opening round to Katie Boulter, it may expose that perhaps the reason she has got this far is due to the fact that her opponents have given up.
While Rybakina this week has played twice against two Canadians, Leylah Fernandez was seen as the tricky test of the two given she won a title shortly before this tournament but it was light work for Rybakina. While perhaps despite Mboko being ninth seed, Eva Lys was perhaps favoured to reach the Quarter-Finals but she didn’t losing easy to Mboko who then fell to Rybakina in a tough tie. Rybakina will be expected to win but with the pressure off what will that now do?
Resurgent Kenin faces BencicIn regards to the second semi-final, both players feasibly could’ve been out of the tournament by now with Belinda Bencic surviving in a back-and-forth battle with Karolina Muchova on Friday winning it 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 and saving match points against the Czech ace who has battled back to form valiantly after spending most of the year wondering if she needed another surgery.
But a run at the US Open again as well as playing well over the past few weeks has shown that this time of the season are very much Muchova times of year. Bencic has had a good year in general and likely would be WTA Comeback Player of the Year depending on the criteria if it wasn’t for Amanda Anisimova’s return.
Coming back from pregnancy, she has become the first player since perhaps Elina Svitolina to take to life after becoming a mother so well but while this is the case, she hasn’t kicked on in terms of fully consistent form since the Abu Dhabi title earlier in the season so she has another chance here.
Against Sofia Kenin though who always seems to pop up at some point with some semblance of form. She saw off Ekaterina Alexandrova in what can be described as a shock as the tennis world still gets used to Alexandrova the top 10 star. She saved match points and while Bencic on paper would have the advantage. The Swiss ace has never beaten her in two meetings. The backhand of Kenin in particular is a weapon that can cause serious issues.
This especially against the forehand of Bencic could see the Swiss player in trouble especially given she lost, 6-0, 6-3 in Charleston in the Spring. A closer match is very much likely this time around but Kenin likely has the edge. it could go all the way though with a 50-50 likely between the pair with Rybakina likely awaiting in said final.