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Elena Rybakina’s latest attempt to replace Aryna Sabalenka as world number one came to an abrupt end as she retired injured from her Cincinnati Open quarter-final against Iga Swiatek.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Kazakh second seed needed to reach the final to knock Sabalenka off the top of the rankings after the Belarusian suffered a surprise defeat by Sara Bejlek<\/a> in the fourth round on Wednesday.<\/p>\n However, Rybakina managed just five games in her last-eight match against Poland’s Swiatek before retiring with a left ankle injury.<\/p>\n Trailing 4-1, the Australian Open champion called for a medical timeout after pulling up at 40-40.<\/p>\n Following a consultation with the trainer, Rybakina played only one more point before quitting.<\/p>\n “Of course I feel not the greatest, I couldn’t even push from the serve,” Rybakina said.<\/p>\n “It’s painful to walk. We’ll know more tomorrow when we have the MRI. It’s been bothering me for a long period of time, but felt like I had it under control.<\/p>\n “It was feeling OK before the match but unfortunately one wrong movement, one landing, and something happened.”<\/p>\n