Montreal (AFP) – Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, advanced to the semi-finals of the WTA Canadian Open on Monday when Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk retired in the second set with a wrist injury. World number 12 Rybakina led 6-1, 2-1 when Kostyuk stopped the match, sending the Kazakhstan star into a semi-final against the winner of a later match between Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Canadian teen Victoria Mboko.
The top five seeds and seven of the top 10 seeds were ousted before the quarter-finals at Montreal, opening the door for such upstarts as 18-year-old Mboko, who eliminated top seed Coco Gauff. Rybakina, seeded ninth, seeks her third WTA title after Rome and Indian Wells in 2023. She has not reached a final since last year at Miami.
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Rybakina broke 24th-seeded Kostyuk to open the match and led 2-1 when Kostyuk received medical treatment on her right wrist and forearm. Kostyuk netted a backhand to surrender another break in the fifth game, and Rybakina broke again to claim the first set in 37 minutes when Kostyuk sent a forehand long. In the second set, Rybakina held twice before Kostyuk retired after 54 minutes due to her wrist issues.
© 2024 AFP
