Ruzic advances to face Svitolina after Rybakina retirement

Lucky loser Antonia Ruzic reached the first WTA 1000 quarterfinal of her career after top seed Elena Rybakina withdrew in the third set of their third-round match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday. She will next meet seventh seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for a spot in the semifinals.

Ruzic took an early lead in the first set before Rybakina — who won her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this month — rallied to win it 7-5. The Croat, ranked No. 67 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, broke early again in the second set and this time held on to win it 6-4 and force a deciding set.

After Ruzic broke Rybakina’s serve in the opening game of the third set, Rybakina called for the trainer and retired from the match due to gastrointestional issues. It was Ruzic’s first win over a top-20 opponent, and she matched the best result by a lucky loser at a WTA 1000 event. She beat former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu and Anastasia Zakharova, both in three sets, to reach the third round.

It was the second lucky break of the week for 23-year-old Ruzic. She lost in the first round of qualifying after holding six match points against Rebeka Masarova, but entered the main draw as a lucky loser.

"It was actually a crazy story that I got in as a lucky loser because I lost the first round of qualification," Ruzic told the media after her win. "I stayed here because of the doubles because we were first alternate and then they said like sign in because maybe you would get in. Sometimes you have to take the second chances. A lot of girls had amazing runs from the lucky losers because you get a second chance so you have nothing to lose anymore. You can just show your best tennis. I'm happy with how I played today."

In the battle of Top 10 WTA moms, Svitolina came from a set down to defeat Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. This was the Ukrainian's fourth win in a row over Bencic after losing their first two meetings on the tour.

"I think I missed some opportunities in the first set," Svitolina said after her win. "Lost a little bit just the way that I wanted to play. I think she played well in the end of that first set. I knew what I had to execute and I was just trying to find my game again. I think my serve was working really well in the second set. In the third set, the 5-1 lead helped me to find again my good game."

This will be the first meeting between Ruzic and Svitolina on the tour.