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Holder Aryna Sabalenka fell to Elena Rybakina, who registered a 6-1, 6-4 win, while American Coco Gauff was ousted by Jasmine Paolini as the Italian clinched a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.
Aryna Sabalenka. (AFP)
World number 1 Aryna Sabalenka and second-ranked Coco Gauff were ousted from the Cincinnati Open on Friday as they went down to Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini, respectively.
Top seed and holder Sabalenka fell flat to Elena Rybakina, losing to the 2022 Wimbledon champion 6-1, 6-4, while American Gauff had 16 double faults in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 exit at the hands of Italian Paolini.
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Rybakina fired 11 aces to secure her fifth career victory over Sabalenka in 12 meetings. She avenged her loss to the Belarusian in Berlin two months ago and set up a semi-final clash with Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek, who defeated Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-4.
“I’m happy with the serve. It was the key today,” Rybakina remarked. “I served really well.”
“If she had been serving well, it would have been a totally different match,” she acknowledged.
Rybakina has won her last three matches against Swiatek, all played this season. However, Swiatek was feeling confident after her victory over Kalinskaya, calling it “the best match I played here.”
“I’m happy that I’m progressing during the tournament,” Swiatek said.
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Gauff, the 2023 Cincinnati champion, seemed to be in control after a quick first set against Paolini. However, her mistakes caught up with her as she was broken eight times by the Italian, who overcame numerous errors and a twisted ankle suffered early in the third set.
“It was so tough at the start, I was running and trying to put the ball inside the court,” Paolini said. “I started to feel the ball better.”
“I fought for every point and stayed in the match,” added the Italian.
Paolini will face Veronika Kudermetova for a place in the final after Kudermetova crushed Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 6-2.
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