Elena Rybakina sets up Stuttgart Open final against Karolina Muchova

The Kazakh star reeled off eight of the final nine games against the world No 9 to claim a 7-5, 6-1 victory. It is Rybakina's first victory against the Russian since 2023 after losing both of their 2025 encounters - in Dubai and Indian Wells.

The match also came shortly after her late-night thriller against Leylah Fernandez, which finished close to midnight.

"First set, we were going pretty even," the world no 2 commented during her on-court interview.

"I had some opportunities to go up but didn't take them. But I'm happy that in these important moments, my serve worked and I stayed aggressive.

"Then in the second set being up, I was more free to hit, to step in, to play even more aggressive.

"So I'm pretty happy with the performance. It was really solid. And I guess the three-hour match yesterday, it did help me today."

She will next face Karolina Muchova, who battled past Elina Svitolina 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to snap a three-match losing streak against the Ukrainian.

The Stuttgart Open marks Rybakina's third final of 2026, having also reached the showpiece match at the Australian Open and Indian Wells.

Muchova holds a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head, with all three encounters coming on hard courts.

The Czech was also victorious in their most recent meeting, winning 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 at the Brisbane International in January.

"I thought it was working, so I was trying to - that's what exactly happened in the second set," Muchova commented during her post-match press conference.

"I think I kind of start to play the way she likes to play and play the long rallies.

"Then I just realized, 'okay, I have to again be more aggressive and try to approach the net or change the rhythm.' I think that's the way that it's good for me to play against her."

As a result of reaching the final, Rybakina is confirmed to gain at least 217 ranking points and is sitting on 8325 points in the Live WTA Rankings.

This extends her lead over world No 3 Gauff, who fell in the quarter-finals of the event to Muchova, to 1,047 points.

However, Rybakina remains 2,570 ranking points behind world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Live WTA Rankings.

If the Kazakh were to win the final and lift the trophy in Stuttgart, she would gain another 175 points, extending her lead over Gauff to 1,222.

In more positive news for Rybakina, she is not defending any ranking points at the Madrid Masters, having already counted her sixth-best WTA 1000 result of 65 points - higher than her 2025 tally in the Spanish capital.

Meanwhile, world No 3 Gauff is defending 650 points, while world No 1 Sabalenka is defending the maximum 1,000 points after having lifted the trophy.

The WTA Madrid Masters will take place from 22 April to 2 May