Tearful Ons Jabeur falls to Beatriz Haddad Maia as Elena Rybakina reaches Abu Dhabi semis, Harriet Dart run continues

A tearful Ons Jabeur was knocked out of the Abu Dhabi Open quarter-finals by Beatriz Haddad Maia after Elena Rybakina progressed to the semis and Harriet Dart continued her stunning run in Romania.

Second seed Jabeur fell to a 6-3 6-4 defeat in one hour and 30 minutes and struggled in the second set as she was left with tears streaming down her face.

It was unclear whether it was a reaction to an injury or not, but the Tunisian was broken late in the set and couldn’t take either of her two break-back points as Haddad Maia set up a semi-final clash with Daria Kasatkina or Sorana Cirstea.

Haddad Maia, who came through the longest match of 2024 of three hours and 42 minutes against Magda Linette to reach the quarter-finals, impressed in the opening set.

A 78% first serve percentage and one break of serve proved enough to edge the Brazilian in front.

The sixth seed looked to be cruising to victory when she broke Jabeur’s serve in the opening game of the second set before consolidating for a 2-0 lead.

But Jabeur mustered an impressive response out of nowhere, going on a run of three games in a row to break back and nudge herself into the lead at 3-2.

However, things soon unravelled for the Tunisian when she was left distraught and had her serve broken to go 5-4 down.

Two superb winners earned Jabeur a couple of break points, but Haddad Maia kept her composure to see them off, save a third break chance, and take her second match point.

Jabeur finished up with 25 winners to Haddad Maia’s 11, but the Tunisian’s lowly second serve percentage of 37% ultimately cost her.

Top seed Rybakina marched into the semi-finals for the first time with a 6-1 6-4 win over Cristina Bucsa.

“For sure a two-set match helps to recover for the next one,” Rybakina said.

“We’ll see how it’s going to go tomorrow but hopefully I’m going to feel good physically and can show good tennis.”

The 2022 Wimbledon champion is seeking her second title of the season after victory in Brisbane in January.

Rybakina seized the initiative by breaking at the first opportunity and quickly racing into a 3-0 lead.

The world No. 5 followed that up with another break and hold in a blistering start, but Bucsa managed to avoid the bagel with a late hold before Rybakina served out a dominant opening set in which she won 26 of the 34 points played.

Bucsa, who pushed Rybakina hard in a 6-3 7-5 second-round defeat in Adelaide in January and overcame Britain’s Heather Watson to reach the last eight, pressed the reset button and calmly kicked off the second set with a love hold.

That set the tone for a more even set, Bucsa taking a 3-1 lead with her first break of the match before Rybakina broke back to put the match back on serve at 3-2.

Rybakina pounced at 4-4, breaking when her fierce return forced Bucsa into the net, and the No. 1 seed showed composure to serve out the match to love.

Earlier, Samsonova booked a last-four spot with an impressive 7-5 6-4 win over fourth seed Barbora Krejcikova.

The world No. 15 is yet to drop a set in Abu Dhabi and lost only five games in her previous wins over Lesia Tsurenko and Anhelina Kalinina.

In Romania, Britain’s Dart continued her storming run at the Transylvania Open by beating Nuria Parrizas Diaz to reach her first WTA semi-final and avenge her Canberra final defeat.

Dart won 6-3 6-2, breaking the Spaniard’s serve six times, to continue a superb week in which she has also taken out Anna Bondar and fifth seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

Either Karolina Pliskova or Sara Errani awaits the 27-year-old in the last four.

Dart is targeting the first WTA title of her career, a landmark she came close to reaching in January when she finished as runner-up in Canberra.

On that occasion, she fell to a straight-sets defeat to Parrizas Diaz, and the Brit got a measure of revenge for that result in Cluj-Napoca on Friday.

Dart failed to qualify for the Australian Open main draw last month, falling in the second qualifying round to Yuliia Starodubtseva.