Elena Rybakina stormed into her first Cincinnati Open semi-final on Friday with a one-sided 6-1, 6-4 victory against defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, while Carlos Alcaraz gritted his way past a three-setter against Andrey Rublev to also reach the last four.
The ninth seed from Kazakhstan delivered a clinical display to record her seventh career win over a world No. 1, securing a blockbuster semi-final against six-time Grand Slam title holder Iga Swiatek — an all-Wimbledon champion showdown.
Rybakina's serve was impenetrable for most of the match, as she hit 11 aces, converted 81% of first-serve points, and saved all five break points she encountered. The victory was her fifth against Sabalenka in 12 meetings between the two players.
Earlier, Swiatek advanced to her first WTA 1000 semi-final in more than a year, overcoming 28th seed Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-4. The Russian put up resistance, saving four match points, before the Polish third seed converted her fifth to seal the contest.
In another quarter-final, Veronika Kudermetova cruised past compatriot Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 6-2, into her maiden Cincinnati Open semi-final and first WTA 1000 last-four since 2023. Former world top-10 player Kudermetova will next face Italy's seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, who mounted a courageous comeback to beat Coco Gauff 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
On the men's side, second seed Alcaraz defeated ninth-seeded Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in a closely contested match. Though not at his best clinically — having 15 unforced errors and three double faults in the third set — the 22-year-old Spaniard converted on his sole match point, which came via a Rublev double fault, to notch his 15th successive Masters 1000 title.
"Playing against someone like Andrey, if you lose concentration on two or three points, it can take away from you the set or the match. I just remained strong in the head and that's what I'm proudest of," Alcaraz declared afterwards. "It's just embracing the moment, embracing the fact that I'm playing a third set, that is going to be a really hard fight, and I love that."
Alcaraz, now 37-2 over his previous 39 outings, matched world No. 1 Jannik Sinner's record of 12 Masters 1000 semi-final appearances. Sinner faces French qualifier Terence Atmane in the remaining men's semi-final.
Third seed Alexander Zverev is next for Alcaraz after he swept past Canadian Open winner Ben Shelton with a 6-2, 6-2 win.
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