Rybakina Walks Over Into Semi-Finals After Injury Blow To Swiatek In Rome

Wimbledon champion Rybakina is through to the semi-finals in Rome following Iga Swiatek's retirement in the third set of their Italian Open quarterfinal tie.

Swiatek won the first set 6-2 while Rybakina won the second set 7-6 (3) in a match that started on Wednesday evening and ended early Thursday morning.

But it was during the third set that the world number one retired, when the scoreline was at 2-2.

"I saw something happen in the tiebreak, on almost the last point, but I didn't know how serious it is," Rybakina said. 

"The first two games she started really aggressive, so I understood that she couldn't really move that much."

The result makes it the third time that Rybakina has beaten Swiatek this year, accounting for three of the Pole's six losses in 2023.

Rybakina will next play Jelena Ostapenko, who beat Paula Badosa 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to reach her first semifinal on clay since winning the 2017 French Open.