Jasmine Paolini advanced to the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships via walkover after her quarterfinal opponent Elena Rybakina was forced to withdraw due to gastrointestinal illness.
"Unfortunately I was not feeling well overnight, and since I am not feeling 100% ready to compete I have decided to pull out from my quarterfinal match today against Jasmine Paolini," said world no. 4 Rybakina, who recently won the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open and reached the final of last week’s Qatar Open.
No. 26-ranked Paolini will face another unseeded player in Sorana Cirstea, who pulled off a remarkable comeback win over No. 7 seed Marketa Vondrousova.
Cirstea saved six match points en route to a 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-2 victory in 2 hours and 41 minutes.
'This has to be the biggest comeback of my career... To be honest, at a set and 5-1, I was like, at least make it nice for the public' 😅@sorana_cirstea | #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/oBnA59jgWj
— wta (@WTA) February 22, 2024
Alcaraz, Sabalenka pass early Australian Open tests
Top seed Sabalenka sees off Bai to progress to third round
Maxwell and Waugh among franchise owners in European T20 league
Mbappe and Vinicius shine as Real Madrid thrash Monaco
Gabriel Jesus in dreamland after double in Arsenal's win at San Siro
