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Elena Rybakina withdraws from Berlin Ladies Open due to illness

BERLIN, Germany -- World No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan withdrew from the Berlin Ladies Open on Friday due to illness, sending Belarusian Victoria Azarenka through to the semifinals, while the rest of the matches were halted due to rain.

Third seed Rybakina, visibly struggling with what appeared to be abdominal pain and trailing 3-1 in the first set, left the court and later withdrew.

The rain stopped play for the other matches, with American fourth seed Jessica Pegula leading Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 7-6 (2), 3-6, 4-2 before the contest was suspended.

The remaining two quarterfinals, featuring American top seed Coco Gauff against eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and second seed Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus against Russian Anna Kalinskaya, did not start and are now scheduled for Saturday.