Swiatek, Paolini advance at US Open; injured Rybakina withdraws

NEW YORK — A US Open match between a pair of two-time Grand Slam finalists lasted only three points on Thursday, when former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova injured herself and had to stop playing against fifth-seeded  Jasmine Paolini. Their abbreviated match was followed by No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina withdrawing from the tournament with an undisclosed injury.

The score in the second-round contest between Pliskova and Paolini was 15-all, with Paolini serving, when Pliskova stepped awkwardly on her left foot while trying to change directions during a point she lost. That made it 30-15, and that’s where the scoreboard remained, as Pliskova headed to the sideline and asked for a visit from a trainer.

Pliskova, the runner-up at the US Open in 2016 and at Wimbledon in 2021, removed both of her shoes and took off her left sock. The trainer examined her left foot and, eventually, Pliskova said she couldn’t continue competing and limped off the court at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“It’s so sad. I hope she recovers really soon, because it’s bad to leave the court like this,” Paolini said. “I don’t know what to say, because we didn’t play a match. It’s not good for tennis.”

It’s the fourth retirement on the women’s side so far this tournament, tying the most in a single US Open (2011) in the Open era.

Paolini lost in this year’s finals at the French Open in June to Iga Swiatek and at Wimbledon in July to Barbora Krejcikova.

Thursday’s result gave Paolini her 17th major match win of 2024, the most by any woman this season.

Before this season, the 28-year-old Italian never had been past the second round at any major tournament in 16 appearances. That includes a 1-4 career record at Flushing Meadows, where she made it to the second round in 2021 and exited in the first round in 2020, 2022 and 2023.

“Finally, we meet, third round,” Paolini said, raising both arms and looking skyward. “Finally!”

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, pulled out of the US Open before her second-round match, sending French qualifier Jessika Ponchet to the weekend.

“Unfortunately, I have to withdraw from my match today due to my injuries,” Rybakina, who parted ways with longtime coach Stefano Vukov ahead of the US Open, said in a statement. “I did not want to finish the last Grand Slam of the year this way but I have to listen to my body, and I hope I can close out the remainder of the year strong.”

Rybakina is the first women’s top-5 seed to retire or withdraw from the US Open since 2000, when No. 4 seed Mary Pierce retired during her round-of-16 match against Anke Huber due to a shoulder injury.

Rybakina has struggled to stay healthy, most recently withdrawing from the Olympics and Toronto tune-up tournament with acute bronchitis. Earlier this season, she withdrew from events in Dubai, Indian Wells and Rome with illness, and retired from her quarterfinal match in Berlin with abdominal pain. She also pulled out of Eastbourne due to a change in schedule.

Iga Swiatek, playing an afternoon match at Arthur Ashe Stadium, flashed her No. 1 form against Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara as she moved into the third round with a 6-0, 6-1 victory. She won the first set in just 23 minutes and finished off the match in 65. It took the 2022 US Open champion longer than that to play the second set alone in her first-round match, when she needed a tiebreaker that she eventually closed out in 72 minutes.

“I just felt the rhythm was much better,” Swiatek said. “I was a bit tense in my last match, so today I just wanted to focus on the right things.”

Swiatek is the only men’s or women’s player who has reached the third round or better at every possible major since the start of 2020 (19 straight third round appearances). The last time she didn’t reach that stage of a major was five years ago at the 2019 US Open, when she lost in the second round to Anastasija Sevastova.

American Jessica Pegula, the No. 6 seed, took care of 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in straight sets. Pegula has won 14 tour-level matches on U.S. soil this season, the second most on the WTA Tour after Danielle Collins (16).

“I thought I served pretty well in the moments that I had to,” Pegula said. “I knew I had chances to break but, I mean, she’s really tough. She’s a good returner and when she’s hitting her shots and getting really good depth that makes it really hard.”

Pegula, who has never progressed beyond the quarterfinals at a major, will next face Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

In other women’s singles results from Thursday, former NC State standout Diana Shnaider, the No. 18 seed, defeated Clara Tauson 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the third round for a second straight major.

Shnaider is one of four former women’s college players still in contention in singles, along with Ena Shibahara (UCLA, plays Iga Swiatek later Thursday), Emma Navarro (Virginia, through to third round) and Peyton Stearns (Texas, through to third round).

American Ashlyn Krueger upset No. 21 Mirra Andreeva 6-1, 6-4. It was Krueger’s fifth win over a WTA Top-25 player this season, after she had one such win prior to the 2024 season. Krueger entered the tournament with an 0-6 record in the main draw at majors.

No. 15 Anna Kalinskaya beat Anna Bondar 6-2, 6-4, and No. 30 seed  Yulia Putintseva advanced with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Wang Xinyu. She plays Paolini next. 

ESPN Stats & Information, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.