Rybakina through in Abu Dhabi but Watson loses in doubles

Defending champion Elena Rybakina progressed to the semi-finals of the Abu Dhabi Open with a 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-4) victory against Ons Jabeur.

The Kazakh won a rematch of the 2022 Wimbledon final, which featured Rybakina winning by breaking twice to take the opening set.

After Rybakina failed to convert two match points, the third set ended in a tie-break before the second set resumed.

World No. 5 Rybakina defeated Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday to advance to the semi-finals, setting up a semifinal against Swiss wildcard Belinda Bencic.

Elsewhere, eighth seed Leylah Fernandez suffered a surprise 7-5 4-6 6-2 loss to world number 51 Ashlyn Krueger, while Britain’s Heather Watson and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani were beaten by fourth seeds Zhang Shuai and Kristina Mladenovic 5-7 6-2 10-3 in the women’s doubles quarter-finals.

In the final four, Shuai and Mladenovic will square off against Olivia Nicholls, a Briton, and her Australian partner Olivia Gadecki.

While Vondrousova and Laura Samsonova defeated Makoto Ninomiya and Ulrikke Eikeri 6-4 6-1, Top seeds Jelena Ostapenko and Ellen Perez made it to the quarter-finals against Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez 6-4, 6-4.