Camille Naredo

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz reacts after winning a point during his men's singles final match against Italy's Jannik Sinner on day 15 of the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2025. Julien de Rosa, AFP/File

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz reacts after winning a point during his men's singles final match against Italy's Jannik Sinner on day 15 of the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2025. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

Article (news)

French Open

Agence France-Presse

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1755314438330AFP__20250608__49MD6XB__v1__Preview__TennisFraOpen2025.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Spain&#x27;s Carlos Alcaraz reacts after winning a point during his men&#x27;s singles final match against Italy&#x27;s Jannik Sinner on day 15 of the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2025. Julien de Rosa, AFP/File"/>Spain&#x27;s Carlos Alcaraz reacts after winning a point during his men&#x27;s singles final match against Italy&#x27;s Jannik Sinner on day 15 of the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2025. Julien de Rosa, AFP/File</div>CINCINNATI -- World number two Carlos Alcaraz fought off a fierce challenge from Andrey Rublev to reach the semi-finals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Friday as women&#x27;s defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was sent crashing by Elena Rybakina.Spain&#x27;s Alcaraz broke Rublev in the final game of a tense duel to emerge a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 winner and will face third-seeded Alexander Zverev, who brought the winning run of fifth-seeded Toronto champion American Ben Shelton to its end with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.Germany&#x27;s Zverev complained of feeling dizzy and out of breath as he led by a set and a break, but benefitted from 27 unforced errors from a listless Shelton over 76 minutes.Zverev earned a 4-1 lead in the second set as Sheldon angrily tossed his racquet on the changeover, and the 2021 champion polished off the win on a second match point and now has 24 hours to try and get fit.&quot;I&#x27;m not feeling too great now, but I have a day to get fresh,&quot; Zverev said. &quot;I hope to be at 100%.&quot;I&#x27;m not sure what happened. I felt very well but at the end of the first set it got progressively worse.&quot;But I&#x27;ll do all I can to give it a shot tomorrow.&quot;Alcaraz was broken while serving for victory at 5-4 in the final set against 11th-ranked Rublev, but he found his focus and used his trademark grit to come through three games later.He sealed the triumph as an emotional Rublev hit an eighth double-fault on match point.&quot;I maintained the positive thoughts even if I lost focus a bit in the second set,&quot; said Alcaraz, whose five titles so far this year include the French Open as well as Masters 1000 trophies in Monte Carlo and Rome.&quot;Against Andrey, if you lose focus it can cost you the set -- or the match ... (Fighting back) is what I&#x27;m most proud of.&quot;<div> </div><div>- Rybakina revenge -</div>Top seeded Sabalenka had no answer for 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina, who beat the Belarusian 6-1, 6-4 to book a semi-final meeting with Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek -- a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Anna Kalinskaya.Rybakina claimed a fifth victory in her 12-match personal rivalry with Sabalenka, avenging a loss to the Belarusian in Berlin two months ago.Rybakina was aided by 11 aces as she reached her first Cincinnati semi-final.&quot;I&#x27;m happy with the serve. It was the key today,&quot; Rybakina said. &quot;I served really well.&quot;If she had been serving well it would have been a totally different match,&quot; she acknowledged.Rybakina has won her last three matches against Swiatek, all played this season.Swiatek needed 93 minutes and five match points to get past Kalinskaya in what she called &quot;the best match I played here.&quot;I&#x27;m happy that I&#x27;m progressing during the tournament,&quot; said the former world number one from Poland.I just played my game,&quot; she said. &quot;It was not easy but I&#x27;m happy that I stayed solid and kept my intensity,&quot;In other quarter-final action, Veronika Kudermetova crushed Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 6-2 and awaits the winner of Friday night&#x27;s match between world number two Coco Gauff and ninth-ranked Jasmine Paolini.<div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

World number two Carlos Alcaraz fought off a fierce challenge from Andrey Rublev to reach the semi-finals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Friday as women's defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was sent crashing by Elena Rybakina.

World number two Carlos Alcaraz fought off a fierce challenge from Andrey Rublev to reach the semi-finals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Friday as women's defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was sent crashing by Elena Rybakina.

Tennis: Alcaraz survives to reach Cincy semis as Rybakina topples No. 1 Sabalenka

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Tennis: Alcaraz survives to reach Cincy semis as Rybakina topples No. 1 Sabalenka

Agence France-Presse

Published August 16, 2025 11:24 AM PHT

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tennis

Cincinnati Open

Carlos Alcaraz

Andrey Rublev

Elena Rybakina

Aryna Sabalenka

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