WTA 1000 in Rome: Iga Swiatek’s cell phone rings in the middle of the match and an injury forces her to leave

Iga Swiateknumber one in the world, he hailed WTA 1000 in Rome in the quarterfinals after losing to the Kazakh Elena Rybakinasixth in the standings, in a match in which came out on top at an unusual moment, early in the first set, being forced to “throw in the towel” due to a right thigh injury. The Pole, who was looking for her third consecutive title in the Italian Forumhe said enough after the fourth game of the final set and his rival took the victory 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 2-2 and abandonment and reached the semifinals.

The leaders of the WTA ranking started with the whole match, which was interrupted in the first game due to a curious situation. Is that with Rybakina serving and the match tied 40-40, the sound of a cell phone began to be heard in the stadium. And to everyone’s surprise, it was from Swiatekthat he forgot to silence his phone when he went out on the pitch.

Noticing it, Iga ran to the bank to turn it off, but had a hard time finding it. Among the laughter and applause of the audience, amused by the situation, the WTA rankings leader looked nervously in her purse and racket bag, with no luck. “Excuse me”he said to the referee, who answered him “Well”.

After several seconds of hesitation, he finally located the device, handed it to his team to “shut them up” and ran back onto the pitch, where He led the initial set without any problemsdespite that distraction.

Rybakina turned the story on its head in the second chapter, in which she struggled from behind, after giving up her serve in the opening game. Swiatek led 4-2 in the standings and seemed to have the victory in her pocket, but then the Kazakh began her comeback and brought definition onto the pitch tie.

In the tiebreaker, the world number six advanced 5-3. After that eighth point, Swiatek gave the first signs that things weren’t right: she stood behind the baseline and was seen leaning over, leaning on her racket and touching her right leg.

After giving up the second set at tie break, Polish woman went to the locker room for medical treatment and came back with a large bandage on her thigh. But he barely lasted four more games on the court before handing victory to Rybakina, who will meet the Latvian in the semifinals Elena Ostapenko.

The Italian tournament remained like this without its two big favourites. Because the farewell of Swiatek, champion of Roland Garros in 2020 and 2022 and of Australia also last year and first seeded in the women’s draw, has been added to that of Novak Djokovicfirst seed from the men’s team, who had lost to an early Wednesday game Rune Holger.