LONDON (Reuters) – Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina reached the quarter-finals after ailing Russian 17th seed Anna Kalinskaya retired from their clash with a suspected right forearm injury while trailing 6-3 3-0 on Monday.
Rybakina, who came into the match as the only woman left in a decimated draw to have lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish, found herself an early break down but the 2022 champion settled her nerves quickly.
The Moscow-born Kazakh broke back before drawing level at 3-3 when Kalinskaya began to struggle with a right forearm issue that she had treated after losing another game.
Kalinskaya appeared to have overcome the problem, much to the relief of her boyfriend and world number one Jannik Sinner who was watching on from the Centre Court stands, but she was unable to prevent Rybakina from winning the first set.
The 25-year-old saved a breakpoint with a powerful ace and consolidated a break in the second set for a 2-0 lead, but the problems returned for Kalinskaya.
She dropped another game to go a double break down before throwing in the towel and walking off disappointed.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar; Editing by Alison Williams)
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