Rybakina upsets Sabalenka to reach Cincinnati Open semis, Alcaraz through

Elena Rybakina powered into her first Cincinnati Open semi-final after stunning defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-1 6-4 on Friday, while five-times Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a second-set blip to beat Andrey Rublev.

The Kazakh ninth seed delivered a fine performance to secure her seventh career win over a top-ranked player, setting up a blockbuster last-four clash with six-times major winner Iga Swiatek in a showdown of Wimbledon champions.

Rybakina fired 11 aces throughout the match, earning an impressive 81 per cent of points on her first serve, while saving all five break points she faced as she secured her fifth win over Belarusian Sabalenka in 12 meetings.

"I'm happy with the serve. It was the key," former world number three Rybakina said. "We're both big hitters. Today I served really well. If Aryna serves well, it's completely different. Hopefully I continue like this."

Earlier, Swiatek advanced to her first WTA 1000 semi-final in 15 months after beating Russian 28th seed Anna Kalinskaya 6-3 6-4.

Kalinskaya, who had defeated Swiatek in their only previous meeting, put up a spirited fight by saving four match points, before the Polish third seed converted her fifth opportunity on serve to seal the victory.

"I just played my game," Swiatek said. "For sure, it wasn't easy. Just happy I was solid and had the intensity to apply pressure."

Russian Veronika Kudermetova carved out a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory over Varvara Gracheva to reach the semis of Cincinnati for the first time.

Kudermetova appears to be back to the form that once carried her into the top-10 as she earned her first WTA 1000 last-four spot since 2023.

She will next face Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, who rallied from a set down