Antonia Ruzic secures her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal appearance after Elena Rybakina withdrew in the third set of their Dubai third-round clash. The lucky loser had previously dispatched Emma Raducanu and Anastasia Zakharova to reach this stage.
Ruzic moved ahead early in the opening set, but Rybakina—who had just clinched her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier in the month—responded to take the set 7-5. The Croat again claimed an early break in the second set and managed to hold serve, leveling the match with a 6-4 win that forced a decider.
In the third set, Ruzic broke Rybakina’s serve in the opening game. Soon after, Rybakina requested a trainer and retired due to gastrointestional issues, handing the match to Ruzic. This win marks Ruzic’s first victory over a top-20 opponent and ties the best-ever result by a lucky loser at a WTA 1000 event. Earlier in the tournament, she defeated former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu and Anastasia Zakharova, both in three sets, to reach the third round.
This marks the second time this week that Ruzic has benefited from a fortunate entry into the main draw: she initially lost in the first round of qualifying after squandering six potential match points against Rebeka Masarova, yet entered as a lucky loser when the main draw opened up.
Looking ahead, Ruzic will face either seventh seed Elina Svitolina or ninth seed Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals.
