{"id":2506,"date":"2026-08-21T09:40:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=2506"},"modified":"2026-08-21T09:40:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:40:22","slug":"swiatek-into-cincinnati-semis-after-rybakina-injury-tennis-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=2506","title":{"rendered":"Swiatek into Cincinnati semis after Rybakina injury | Tennis News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Published On 21 Aug 2026<\/span>21 Aug 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Iga Swiatek moved into the semifinals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters as Elena Rybakina was forced to retire with a heel injury less than half an hour into their clash on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Rybakina\u2019s withdrawal raised concerns over the fitness of the world number two Kazakh just 10 days before the start of the US Open.<\/p>\n

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Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n

list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n

Trailing 4-1 in the opening set of Thursday\u2019s Cincinnati quarterfinal, Rybakina suddenly pulled up short at 40-all, heading to her bench and consulting with the trainer.<\/p>\n

She went back out and played one more point before quitting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was feeling anxious watching the whole situation,\u201d said her opponent Swiatek. \u201cI hope she will be fine. Health is always the priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an important tournament, but the US Open is the US Open. I hope she is ready for that,\u201d she said, referring to the major which begins in New York on August 30.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a shame she was injured, we were having a good match.\u201d<\/p>\n

Had two-time Grand Slam winner Rybakina reached the Cincinnati final, she would have risen to number one in the world for the first time in her career, following incumbent Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s shock exit to 20-year-old Sara Bejlek.<\/p>\n

Defending Cincinnati champion Swiatek said she had \u201cgained a lot of confidence in the last weeks,\u201d which have also included her victory over Rybakina in the final of this month\u2019s Toronto event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel great, ready to play my game \u2026 I\u2019m happy to be playing the tennis that I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poland\u2019s Swiatek now plays a semifinal against Jessica Pegula, who is reportedly carrying a hip niggle after defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7\/4).<\/p>\n

Sixth-seeded Anisimova converted all five of her break points against Pegula, breaking her three times in the second set, before the world number three rebounded to win.<\/p>\n

Pegula is setting WTA records at age 32. She is the fourth player since 2009 to reach five or more Masters 1000 quarterfinals after turning 30, along with Li Na, Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova.<\/p>\n

Pegula needed just 34 minutes to pocket the opening set.<\/p>\n

But Anisimova struck back in the second, earning a double break for 4-0.<\/p>\n

After Anisimova squared the match at one set each, Pegula regrouped with an opening break in the deciding set.<\/p>\n

They would each be broken twice as they went to the tiebreaker, where Pegula sealed the win on her first match point.<\/p>\n

Pegula\u2019s win was her sixth without a loss to Anisimova.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I have a good record against her, but literally every single match is like it was today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sweet\u2019 victory<\/h2>\n

In the men\u2019s draw, Flavio Cobolli advanced to the final four with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Tommy Paul, gobbling down a handful of sweets for an unorthodox boost midway through the match.<\/p>\n

The Roland Garros runner-up asked for the candy to be brought to the court and seemingly took energy from the pause before dispatching Paul, who had himself eliminated top seed Alexander Zverev 24 hours earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cA sweet with chocolate makes me happy,\u201d Cobolli said. \u201cI\u2019ve tried it in doubles so why not singles?\u201d<\/p>\n

Cobolli mounted the comeback after dropping the opening set.<\/p>\n

With the match tied at a set apiece, Paul needed an extraordinary effort to hold serve for 4-3 in the final set, battling through five deuces and saving four break points.<\/p>\n

But Cobolli ignored the showing and closed out the victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a difficult day,\u201d the winner said. \u201cI\u2019m proud of my effort, my game and my mental strength. It is all good practice for the US Open.<\/p>\n

Cobelli will play for a place in the final when he faces Arthur Fils, who defeated Thiago Tirante 6-3, 6-2 in just 64 minutes \u2014 the shortest men\u2019s match of the event.<\/p>\n

Fils, the eighth Frenchman to reach Cincinnati semi-finals in the Open Era, said he was impressed by the weight of his opponent\u2019s big game.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has an unbelievable serve; I was surprised by the speed of his ball,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to make him play a bit more. I stayed solid in my head and it worked pretty well for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Published On 21 Aug 202621 Aug 2026 Iga Swiatek moved into the semifinals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters as Elena Rybakina was forced to retire with a heel injury less than half an hour into their clash on Thursday. Rybakina\u2019s withdrawal raised concerns over the fitness of the world number two Kazakh just 10 days…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2506","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-international-news"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}