Cincinnati Open: Rybakina stuns Sabalenka, Alcaraz battles past Rublev to reach semis

Cincinnati, Aug 16
Elena Rybakina stormed into her first Cincinnati Open semi-final on Friday with a commanding 6-1, 6-4 victory over defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, while five-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz overcame a second-set lapse to defeat Andrey Rublev to reach the last four.

The ninth-seeded Kazakh produced an impressive display to earn her seventh career win against a world No.1, setting up a high-stakes semi-final clash with six-time major champion Iga Swiatek in a battle of Wimbledon titleholders.

Rybakina delivered a dominant serving performance, firing 11 aces and winning 81% of points on her first serve. She saved all five break points she faced to notch her fifth victory over Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in 12 encounters.

Earlier in the day, Swiatek reached her first WTA 1000 semi-final in 15 months with a 6-3, 6-4 win over 28th seed Anna Kalinskaya. The Russian, who had beaten Swiatek in their only previous meeting, showed resilience by saving four match points before the Polish third seed finally converted her fifth opportunity on serve to close out the match.

Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova cruised into her first Cincinnati Open semi-final with a commanding 6-1, 6-2 win over compatriot Varvara Gracheva.

The former top-10 player appears to be regaining her best form, securing her first WTA 1000 semi-final appearance since 2023.

Up next, Kudermetova will face Italy’s seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, who pulled off a stunning comeback to defeat two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

In the men’s draw, Spanish second seed Alcaraz fought past ninth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev with a hard-earned 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 victory to book his place in the semi-finals.

The 22-year-old wasn’t at his sharpest, tallying 15 unforced errors and three double faults in the final set, but seized his only match point - thanks to a Rublev double fault - to clinch his 15th straight win at the Masters 1000 level.

"Playing someone like Andrey, when you lose focus on two or three points, it can cost you the set or the match. I just stayed strong mentally and that's what I'm most proud of," Alcaraz said.

"It's just accepting the moment, accepting that I am playing a third set, that it's going to be a really tough battle, and I love that."

Alcaraz, who has now won 37 of his last 39 matches, reached his 12th Masters 1000 semi-final - matching the tally of world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who will meet French qualifier Terence Atmane in the other semi-final.

Up next for Alcaraz is third seed Alexander Zverev, who cruised past Canadian Open champion Ben Shelton with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory.