Indian Wells (United States) (AFP) - World number six Maria Sakkari powered into the semi-finals of the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters on Thursday with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina.
The Greek 26-year-old is in search of a second WTA title after capturing her first at Rabat in 2019.
She made the semi-finals at the US Open and French Open in 2021 to signal her intent and was seeded in the top 10 of a Slam for the first time at the Australian Open only to exit in the fourth round.
In a battle of big-hitters, Sakkari shook off an early break that had her trailing 4-1 in the first set, winning six of the next seven games to pocket the opener.
She saved four break points in her first service game of the second set, then broke Rybakina for a 2-1 lead that stood up the rest of the way.
Sakkari will face either defending champion Paula Badosa of Spain or Veronika Kudermetsova for a place in Sunday's final.
Badosa is seeded fifth in the prestigious hard court tournament, but she has slipped behind Sakkari in the world rankings to seventh after the Greek player's run to the final at Saint Petersburg last month.
