Aryna Sabalenka's Cincinnati Open title defense is over. The World No. 1 was eliminated by Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals Aug. 15.

Twice down break point while two games from victory against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina stepped up to serve. She had let victory slip through her fingers against Sabalenka two months earlier in Berlin, squandering four consecutive match points in a third-set tiebreak. She had suffered close losses from winning positions all year.

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.

Sabalenka has done plenty of winning this year, but individual titles have been tough to achieve. Unfortunately for Sabalenka, that was also the case at the 2025 Cincinnati Open. Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals at the event before she was eliminated by Elena Rybakina on Friday in straight sets.

With her coaching team intact again, Rybakina played the match of her season, and put herself back in the big-title conversation.

Chakvetadze, a former world No. 8, appeared on a podcast with former three-time Grand Slam finalist Safina. At one point during their conversation, the former Russian tennis star said that Ivanisevic privately told her he was surprised that Rybakina only had one Wimbledon title in her collection.