The quarterfinals for the 2025 Cincinnati Open began on Friday with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus taking on the tournament #9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
The two players have met 11 times in their career with Sabalenka leading the series 7-4. They split their last 4 meetings with Sabalenka winning their most recent meeting on grass in the quarterfinal in Berlin.
The road to this quarterfinal match saw Sabalenka, after a bye in the 1st round, defeat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic) in the 2nd round, 2021US Open champion Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) in the 3rd round, and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (Spain) in the round of 16.
Rybakina after the 1st round bye, defeated Renata Zarazua (Mexico) in the 2nd round, Elise Mertens (Belgium) in the 3rd Round, and 2019 Cincinnati Open champion Madison Keys (USA) in the round of 16.
From the start Rybakina took control only allowing Sabalenka to win 1 game in the first set. While Sabalenka would win more games in the second set, she never really got going, only managing 1 service break down 3-5 in the second set. Rybakina would then break Sabalenka and hold serve to move on to the semifinals.
Rybakina defeats Sabalenka 6-1,6-4
Rybakina moves on to the semifinals where she face world #3 Iga Swiatek for a trip to the finals.
After the match Aryna Sabalenka spoke briefly with the media.
Shortly after Elena Rybakina would sit down at the microphone.
Check out photos from this match below.