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
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