Elena Rybakina made a late push to beat Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach her first final in 13 months at the Internationaux de Strasbourg on Friday. 

Rybakina, who is the highest-ranked player left in the competition, earned a 7-6 (9-7) 1-6 6-2 victory in a gruelling two-hour and 45-minute clash. 

The pair exchanged blows in a pulsating first set, which went all the way to a tie-break, with Rybakina missing the chance to take the lead in the 12th game of the opening set. 

Rybakina then saved a set point in the tie-break before clinching the opening set, but Haddad Maia roared back to win five games in a row from 1-1 in the second. 

The Brazilian also won the first two games of the third set. However, Rybakina responded emphatically by winning the next six games to reach the showpiece match. 

Both are looking to add the Strasbourg title to their resume for the first time

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And Rybakina will face Liudmila Samsonova in Saturday's final after she breezed past American Danielle Collins in straight sets later in the day. 

Samsonova earned a 6-4 6-2 victory over Collins, with the eighth seed reaching her first clay-court final on the WTA Tour. 

The Russian came back from a break down in the first set to take a 4-2 lead, and though Collins levelled things up, Samsonova was able to get over the line. 

And from there, she controlled the remainder of the match, sealing the victory with a fierce serve that her opponent was unable to return. 

Data Debrief: Rybakina out for glory

After an inconsistent start to her season due to off-field distractions, Rybakina has found her form at the right time ahead of the upcoming French Open. 

She has now won three matches for the first time since the Dubai Duty Free Championship back in January, and she will be out to make the Strasbourg crown her ninth WTA title.

Indeed, only Mirjana Lucic (19, 1997-2016) and Lindsay Davenport (eight, 1996-2004) had a longer gap between any two finals in women's singles in Strasbourg than Rybakina (five, 2020-2025) since the tournament's inception in 1987.