Unwell Rybakina retires in Berlin, rain delays matches

BERLIN, Germany : World number four Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan withdrew from the Berlin Ladies Open on Friday due to illness, sending Belarusian Victoria Azarenka through to the semi-finals, while the rest of the matches were halted due to rain.

Third seed Rybakina, visibly struggling with what appeared to be abdominal pain and trailing 3-1 in the first set, left the court and later withdrew.

The rain stopped play for the other matches, with U.S fourth seed Jessica Pegula leading Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 7-6(2) 3-6 4-2 before the contest was suspended.

The remaining two quarter-finals, featuring American top seed Coco Gauff against eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and second seed Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus against Russian Anna Kalinskaya, did not start and are now scheduled for Saturday.