Elena Rybakina withdrew from her quarterfinal match at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships due to illness, giving Jasmine Paolini a free pass to enter her maiden WTA 1000 semifinal.
Rybakina was due to face the Italian on February 22. However, she decided not to compete after being diagnosed with gastrointestinal illness. The Kazakhstani was pegged to enter her third consecutive semifinal in the Middle East swing of the 2024 WTA Tour.
Earlier this year, the 24-year-old won the title at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open and lost to Iga Swiatek in the title contest of the WTA 1000 Qatar Open. Rybakina was seeded No. 4 at the Dubai Tennis Championships and bettered Victoria Azarenka and Magdalena Frech en route to the quarterfinals.
Her withdrawal comes a day after she spoke about the physical toll she has endured due to such a hectic schedule. After her three-set marathon win against Frech, Rybakina shared that it was getting harder for her to stay healthy even though she had an impressive showing early on in 2024.
"It's just the beginning of the year. Of course, it’s a great start, but it's not easy. Most important is to stay healthy. With every match, it's getting tougher and tougher physically but really happy with the start of the year, hopefully, I just can continue like this," Rybakina said in her on-court interview.
With Elena Rybakina's withdrawal, Jasmine Paolini will enter the semifinals of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time in her career. The diminutive Italian has been going from strength to strength in the last few months.
Paolini has risen to the World No. 26 spot on the WTA Rankings and defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia, Leylah Fernandez and Maria Sakkari in Dubai. She will face either reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova or Sorana Cirstea in the last four.
Elena Rybakina has a 17-3 win-loss record in 2024 so far
Elena Rybakina has enjoyed a fantastic start to her 2024 season. She has won two WTA 500 titles so far and reached the final of a WTA 1000 tournament. The former Wimbledon champion began her year at Brisbane International, where she downed Aryna Sabalenka in the title contest.
This was followed by a quarterfinal exit at the Adelaide International and an enormous upset at the Australian Open at the hands of Anna Blinkova in the second round. Rybakina then regrouped at the Abu Dhabi Open to pick up her second title of the year.
The 24-year-old lifted the trophy by beating Daria Kasatkina in the final. Rybakina built on that good form by reaching the final at the Qatar Open. Her win-loss record stands at 17-3 in 2024 so far.
