Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open: Rybakina to face Kasatkina in final

Kazakh Elena Rybakina, the top seed, beat Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 8 seed, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the final of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City on Saturday afternoon.

Rybakina, ranked No 5, will face Russian Daria Kasatkina, the No 7 seed, next.

The Kazakh won against American qualifier Danielle Collins (4-6, 6-3, 6-3) and Spanish lucky loser Cristina Bucsa (6-1, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Abu Dhabi tournament.

Earlier in the tournament, Samsonova, ranked No 15, won against Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko (6-0, 6-1), Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina (6-1, 6-3) and No 4 seed Barbora Krejcikova (7-5, 6-4).

Abu Dhabi WTA 500, other semi-final result (International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City, hard, USD 922.573):

• Daria Kasatkina beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (6): 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2)