Ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina delivered 11 aces and dominated the match while recording a 6-1, 6-4 victory over top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka on Friday afternoon to reach the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio.

Rybakina needed just 74 minutes to dispatch Sabalenka, the event’s defending champion.

The tournament’s second seed also fell on Friday as Coco Gauff lost to seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini of Italy 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Paolini advances to face Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova, who routed France’s Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 6-2.

Rybakina will next face third-seeded Iga Swiatek, who notched a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya.

Swiatek holds a 5-4 edge in matches against Rybakina.

“She’s a great player,” Rybakina said of the Polish star. “Of course, it’s going to be a dif

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