Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) qualified for the semi-finals of the Masters’ tournament WTA 1000 Rome Open with a prize pool of 7.7 million EUR. The Kazakhstani player qualified after retiring of the top-seeded and world’s number one Iga Swiatek (Poland) due to hand injury in the decisive third set at result 2:2.
The match was totally equal, after Iga Swiatek won the first set by 6:2 after two early breaks, but Elena Rybakina won the second set after tiebreak. The decisive third set at result 2:2 without breaks.
Iga Swiatek appeared to be holding her right thigh during the second-set tiebreak. However, she continue playing, but after the 4th game of the third set asked for medical assistance and retired from the match.
“Hi Guys. I’m sure you’re thinking about what happened last night. We’re checking it. During the second set I got a thigh injury. The diagnostic is in progress. More info in the following days. Will keep you updated”, wrote Iga Swiatek in the social networks.
Meanwhile, the Latvian tennis player Jelena Ostapenko prevailed over Paula Badosa (Spain) with -1 (6:2, 4:6, 6:3) in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The match lasted one hour and 50 minutes, with twists and turns. In the first set, Jelena Ostapenko made three breaks on the Spaniard’s serve against just one for her rival for the win. In the second set, the roles were reversed, as Paula Badosa managed to take her opponent’s serve twice for the 6:4 victory.
In the third set, Jelena Ostapenko again took the initiative and managed to win it, as well as the whole match, thanks to three breaks.
Jelena Ostapenko and Elena Rybanica will face in the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 Rome Open.
