BEIJING — Elena Rybakina advanced to her eighth semifinal of the year by beating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 6-2 Friday at the China Open.
In their third meeting of the year, after splitting the two finals they have contested this season, the fifth-seeded Rybakina was dominant on serve, hitting 12 aces and never faced a break point.
“I played really well today,” Rybakina said. “I served really well, so I’m really happy with my performance today. It’s always tough battles against Aryna and I really enjoy playing against her.”
In the semifinals, Rybakina will face unseeded Liudmila Samsonova, who earlier defeated 13th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2.
Sabalenka had only four aces and eight double-faults, including two in the 11th game of the first set, and was broken another three times in the second.
Second-seeded Iga Swiatek also advanced by defeating Caroline Garcia 6-7 (8), 7-6 (5), 6-1.
PHOTOS: No.2 Swiatek edges out Garcia at China Open, will face Gauff in semifinals
With Swiatek serving to stay in the match in the second set, Garcia came within two points of closing out a straight-set win. However, Swiatek delivered two big points, pushing the match into a second tiebreaker.
Swiatek then powered through the decider to advance to her 11th semifinal of the season.
Third-seeded Coco Gauff extended her winning streak to 16 matches, beating Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-4 and setting up a semifinal match against Swiatek.
Third-seeded Holger Rune lost to 122nd-ranked Brendon Nakashima 6-0, 6-2 in the second round of the Shanghai Masters.
The 22-year-old American converted five of his 14 break points to claim a maiden victory over a top-10 player.
Nakashima will next play Zhang Zhizhen, who knocked out 28th-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Also, Roman Safiullin defeated ninth-seeded Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-1 in a rematch of last week’s Chengdu Open final, which Zverev won.
Other players losing Friday included 11th-seeded Alex de Minaur, 17th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti and 14th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Casper Ruud was one of the few seeded players to advance. He beat Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5, 6-0 and will next face 29th-seeded Christopher Eubanks, who rallied to beat Yannick Hanfmann 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz and second-seeded Daniil Medvedev play their second-round matches on Saturday.
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