semis

Iga Swiatek moved into the semifinals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters as Elena Rybakina was forced to retire with a heel injury less than half an hour into their clash on Thursday.

Rybakina’s withdrawal raised concerns over the fitness of the world number two Kazakh just 10 days before the start of the US Open.

Trailing 4-1 in the opening set of Thursday’s Cincinnati quarterfinal, Rybakina suddenly pulled up short at 40-all, heading to her bench and consulting with the trainer.

She went back out and played one more point before quitting.

“I was feeling anxious watching the whole situation,” said her opponent Swiatek. “I hope she will be fine. Health is always the priority.

“This is an important tournament, but the US Open is the US Open. I hope she is ready for that,” she said, referring to the major which begins in New York on August 30.

“It was a shame she was injured, we were having a good match.”

Had two-time Grand Slam winner Rybakina reached the Cincinnati final, she would have risen to number one in the world for the first time in her career, following incumbent Aryna Sabalenka’s shock exit to 20-year-old Sara Bejlek.

Defending Cincinnati champion Swiatek said she had “gained a lot of confidence in the last weeks,” which have also included her victory over Rybakina in the final of this month’s Toronto event.

“I feel great, ready to play my game … I’m happy to be playing the tennis that I am.”

Poland’s Swiatek now plays a semifinal against Jessica Pegula, who is reportedly carrying a hip niggle after defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4).

Sixth-seeded Anisimova converted all five of her break points against Pegula, breaking her three times in the second set, before the world number three rebounded to win.

Pegula is setting WTA records at age 32. She is the fourth player since 2009 to reach five or more Masters 1000 quarterfinals after turning 30, along with Li Na, Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Pegula needed just 34 minutes to pocket the opening set.

But Anisimova struck back in the second, earning a double break for 4-0.

After Anisimova squared the match at one set each, Pegula regrouped with an opening break in the deciding set.

They would each be broken twice as they went to the tiebreaker, where Pegula sealed the win on her first match point.

Pegula’s win was her sixth without a loss to Anisimova.

“I know I have a good record against her, but literally every single match is like it was today,” she said.

‘Sweet’ victory

In the men’s draw, Flavio Cobolli advanced to the final four with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Tommy Paul, gobbling down a handful of sweets for an unorthodox boost midway through the match.

The Roland Garros runner-up asked for the candy to be brought to the court and seemingly took energy from the pause before dispatching Paul, who had himself eliminated top seed Alexander Zverev 24 hours earlier.

“A sweet with chocolate makes me happy,” Cobolli said. “I’ve tried it in doubles so why not singles?”

Cobolli mounted the comeback after dropping the opening set.

With the match tied at a set apiece, Paul needed an extraordinary effort to hold serve for 4-3 in the final set, battling through five deuces and saving four break points.

But Cobolli ignored the showing and closed out the victory.

“It was a difficult day,” the winner said. “I’m proud of my effort, my game and my mental strength. It is all good practice for the US Open.

Cobelli will play for a place in the final when he faces Arthur Fils, who defeated Thiago Tirante 6-3, 6-2 in just 64 minutes — the shortest men’s match of the event.

Fils, the eighth Frenchman to reach Cincinnati semi-finals in the Open Era, said he was impressed by the weight of his opponent’s big game.

“He has an unbelievable serve; I was surprised by the speed of his ball,” he said.

“I tried to make him play a bit more. I stayed solid in my head and it worked pretty well for me.”

Jude Bellingham was England’s hero once more by scoring twice as the Three Lions came from behind to end Norway’s historic run and reach the World Cup semifinals with a 2-1 win after extra-time.

In their first ever quarterfinal, Andreas Schjelderup fired Norway into a shock lead in the searing Miami heat on Saturday.

But Bellingham, who also netted a double in a memorable 3-2 over Mexico in the last 16, produced a moment of magic to equalise just before half-time.

Norway had a second goal controversially disallowed after a VAR review in the second half for a foul by Erling Haaland as both sets of players were pushed to their physical limits by going to extra-time.

Bellingham came up with another big moment for the winner as he pounced on an error by Orjan Nyland to sweep in his sixth goal of the tournament.

England will face Argentina or Switzerland on Wednesday for the chance to reach a first World Cup final in 60 years.

Haaland’s spectacular run of scoring in his last 14 competitive matches for Norway came to an end against the land of his birth with Norway’s exhausted talisman replaced at half-time of extra-time.

Having failed to win a World Cup knockout game after conceding first since the final of 1966 before this tournament, England have now done so twice in three matches.

Energy-sapping heat

Harry Kane’s heroics prevented an embarrassing early exit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 32.

But it is Bellingham who has stood up in the past two matches to keep England in the hunt to end their long wait for major tournament glory despite far from flawless performances.

The 5pm local time (21:00 GMT) kickoff in Florida meant that temperatures remained above 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) throughout, with intense humidity making for draining conditions for the players.

The heat looked as if it would spoil the spectacle in the first half.

Thomas Tuchel’s men were rattled as England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved low from Martin Odegaard before Alexander Sorloth wasted a glorious chance when he failed to feed Haaland and instead went for goal himself.

Almost immediately Bellingham pulled his team out of the mire once more.

Bellingham had been well marshalled until he collected Anthony Gordon’s pass, burst into the box at speed and then slotted home on his weaker left foot.

Momentum was suddenly in England’s favour and they nearly went into the break ahead.

Bellingham was this time the creator for Kane, who dinked the ball coolly over Nyland, but had just drifted offside.

Tuchel introduced Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze at the break for the ineffective Noni Madueke and Declan Rice – the Arsenal midfielder had been suffering with illness earlier in the week.

But those changes left England light in midfield and they were left hanging on at spells in the second half.

Torbjorn Heggem made the most of some sloppy defending to turn in at the back post, but Haaland was penalised for a push on new Manchester City teammate Elliott Anderson before the corner had been taken, and the goal was disallowed.

Norway were inches away from a winner again when Kristoffer Ajer hit the bar after England fail to deal with another dangerous corner.

Both sides visibly wilted in the energy-sapping conditions late on but were forced to endure an extra 30 minutes.

Nyland had been Norway’s supporting act in the last 16 win over Brazil with a series of saves before Haaland struck twice late on for a landmark victory.

This time the Sevilla goalkeeper was the villain as he spilled substitute Morgan Rogers’ shot from distance and Bellingham pounced and scored.

England were awarded a penalty moments later, but this time VAR intervened in Norway’s favour to deem Djed Spence had initiated contact inside the box.

Yet, Norway’s spirit was already crushed, epitomised by a slouched Haaland watching on from the bench with nothing more to give.

Tuchel said his side was “lucky” to emerge with the win.

“We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today. The result is fantastic. We are in the last four. It’s amazing but not happy with the performance,” he told ITV.

“The commitment is there but we made life difficult for ourselves in the way we played – sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough. We were lucky today.

“It’s about the quality – we need to play better. We will get better [in the semifinal]. We need to.”