Azarenka advances in Berlin after Rybakina retires; rain halts play

Victoria Azarenka

View Profile was the only player to advance to the ecotrans Ladies Open semifinals on Friday, moving on after No.3 seed Elena Rybakina

View Profile retired due to abdominal pain trailing 3-1 in the first set. The result puts the former World No.1 into her first grass-court semifinal since Berlin 2021.

Berlin: Draws | Schedule | Scores

No.4 seed Jessica Pegula

View Profile led qualifier Katerina Siniakova

View Profile 7-6(2), 3-6, 4-2 in the second quarterfinal of the day before rain halted play for the day. The remaining two quarterfinals -- No.1 seed Coco Gauff

View Profile against No.8 seed Ons Jabeur

View Profile and No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka

View Profile against Anna Kalinskaya

View Profile -- did not get on court.

Saturday's order of play starts at 11:30 a.m., with Gauff and Jabeur starting on Steffi Graf Stadion while Sabalenka and Kalinskaya play concurrently on Court 1. Pegula and Siniakova will resume after Gauff and Jabeur, followed by the two semifinals: Azarenka against either Sabalenka or Kalinskaya, then the Gauff/Jabeur winner against the Pegula/Siniakova winner.

Pegula, bidding for the first grass-court semifinal of her career, had begun to pull away from Siniakova after the Czech slipped while leaping for a lob in the first game of the decider. Though Siniakova was able to resume, she lost 10 of the next 11 points to go down 3-0 before taking an off-court medical timeout.