Lucky loser Antonia Ruzic reached the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships after Elena Rybakina was forced to retire in the third set of their clash on Wednesday. 

Rybakina, who breezed past Kimberly Birrell in her opening match of the tournament, complained to her physio of feeling nauseous, and eventually withdrew from the match. 

The recently crowned Australian Open champion had taken the first set 7-5, but was pegged back by Ruzic 6-4 in the second to ensure the encounter would go to a decider. 

However, after just one game of the third set, which saw Ruzic break Rybakina, the latter signalled for a medical timeout, going on to explain that she was extremely fatigued. 

And with Rybakina's withdrawal, it saw the top seed retire for the first time since the tournament's inception in 2001 in Dubai, while sending Ruzic through to the last eight. 

What a BATTLE!

Antonia Ruzic digs deep against the No.1 seed Rybakina to take the second set 6-4.#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/DmCfuioF01

— wta (@WTA) February 18, 2026

Earlier in the day, Amanda Anisimova cruised past wildcard Janice Tjen in straight sets, setting up a clash with defending champion Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals in Doha. 

Anisimova, who suffered an early exit from her title defence at the Qatar Open, got herself back on track here with a dominant 6-1 6-3 victory in just over an hour. 

Andreeva also comfortably booked her place in the last eight by beating Romania's Jaqueline Cristian 7-5 6-3 in the first match of her title defence. 

Indeed, Andreeva is now the fifth player to claim 40+ Tier I / WTA-1000 wins before turning 19 since the format's introduction in 1990.

And in a battle between two Americans, Jessica Pegula came out on top against Iva Jovic with a comprehensive 6-4 6-2 victory. Clara Tauson is up next for the fourth seed. 

Data Debrief: Rybakina retirement opens up the field

Rybakina would have been considered the red-hot favourite to lift the Dubai title, but with her early exit, it offers a huge opportunity to the rest of the field. 

Indeed, the top seed retired for the first time since Anna Kalinskaya in Singapore 2025 and for the first time in a WTA-1000 since Iga Swiatek did so in Roma three years ago.

But on the court, Andreeva is now the player with the joint-most WTA-1000 quarter-finals reached before turning 19 (eight) since the format's introduction, equalling Coco Gauff. 

Anisimova has reached her sixth career WTA-1000 quarter-final. She has become the first player to make her first six WTA-1000 last-eight appearances in six different cities since Gauff in 2022.