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Tennis fans on the internet were amused to see a spectator tumble while trying to catch the ball tossed by Elena Rybakina following her semifinal win at the 2024 Qatar Open.
Rybakina defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-4 on Friday, February 16, to qualify for the final of the WTA 1000 event in Doha. For the Kazakh, the match wasn't as easy as the scoreline suggests.
The World No. 4 secured the opening set rather comfortably with two breaks on Pavlyuchenkova's serve. However, the Russian offered stern resistance in the second set as she created a total of eight break points, pushing her opponent to her limits.
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Rybakina toiled hard to save seven of those eight break points and in turn, broke the Russian twice to secure the second set and match. With the win, she took a 2-0 lead over Pavlyuchenkova in head-to-head.
Rybakina proceeded for the customary ball tossed into the stands after the victory at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Notably, one of the tosses caused a spectator's fall as he tried to reach for the ball projected towards him.
Fortunately, the man didn't hurt himself much and his fall invited reactions from tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter).
"I would never embarrass myself like that for a signed tennis ball lmao maybe if it was queen mother legend icon Anner Ivanovic only," a fan wrote.
"I would push my own mother out the way if that was Sabalenka," wrote another.
Here are a few more reactions from X:
"For now it was going my way, but Iga Swiatek is playing good" - Elena Rybakina on 3-1 lead in head-to-head ahead of Qatar Open final
Elena Rybakina seems to be the favorite on paper to win against Iga Swiatek in the 2024 Qatar Open 2024 final as she maintains a 3-1 head-to-head lead over the World No. 1. This includes a 100% win record against the Pole in their three matches last year.
However, Rybakina believes the Pole has been in good form lately.
"I think we both know each other pretty well, and of course we trying to study and analyze. For now it was going my way, but as I said, she [Iga Swiatek] is playing really good," Rybakina said after her semifinal on Friday. (via WTA)
The World No. 4 also claimed that Iga Swiatek must be less fatigued than her as the Pole received a walkover in her semifinal match against Karolina Pliskova.
"I think she's a little bit fresher than me, that's for sure, but for me it was already a very positive two weeks, so I try to push myself tomorrow and see how it's gonna go," Elena Rybakina added.
