Elena Rybakina forced to retire in Cincinnati Open quarter-final against Iga Swiatek

[p]The Kazakh suddenly stopped play, unable to put any weight on her left heel, and after a brief intervention from her trainer [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/rybakina-e-UDzElXdm/swiatek-i-jNyZsXZe/?mid=MZoyoKQa"]was forced to retire after one more point.[/a][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Rybakina[/a]'s injury - coming 10 days before the US Open begins - sends [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swiatek-iga/jNyZsXZe/"]Swiatek[/a] into a Cincinnati semi-final with third-seeded [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pegula-jessica/KdojxrAR/"]Jessica Pegula[/a], who defeated [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/anisimova-amanda/nwkutKbi/"]Amanda Anisimova[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/anisimova-a-nwkutKbi/pegula-j-KdojxrAR/?mid=KS03RYT9"]6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4)[/a].[/p][p]Had two-time Grand Slam winner Rybakina reached the Cincinnati final she would have risen to number one in the world for the first time in her career, following incumbent [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a]'s round-of-16 exit.[/p][embed guid="c131b614-f717-45e8-8030-8b7c7c954688" url="https://x.com/TheTennisLetter/status/2090585564781408436?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Belarus's Sabalenka was stunned by Czech [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bejlek-sara/jVCKq0LH/"]Sara Bejlek[/a], ranked 35th, in a gritty match that finished in the early hours of Thursday morning - the latest in a string of setbacks for the four-time major champion.[/p][p]"[b]Honestly, I was feeling anxious just looking at this situation[/b]," Swiatek said in an on-court interview. "[b]I hope that she will be fine. Obviously the net tournament is the priority.[/b][/p][p]"[b]I know this one is important as well, but US Open is US Open and I hope she's going to be ready for that. She's also super-close to being number one in the world, so it's a shame.[/b]"[/p]