Jabeur gets retirement from Vekic to reach Western & Southern Open quarter-finals

Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, the No 5 seed, moved into the last eight at the Western & Southern Open when Croat Donna Vekic retired on Thursday evening. Jabeur, ranked No 5, led 5-2 when Vekic pulled out in the middle of a rain delay.

The world No 5 will face either Aryna Sabalenka or Daria Kasatkina on Friday.

“I think I’m playing great tennis,” Jabeur assessed. “I felt it even from the first match — was hitting the ball right even from the few practices. I mean, the body is good. Sometimes (it’s) a little bit sore from playing, but it’s completely normal.

“I had a great preparation back home in Tunisia. It was very, very hot weather. I think it was a great condition to practice and prepare for this U.S. swing. I feel confident. I want to go as far as I can this tournament. Yeah, it’s just never easy around here.”

Jabeur edged out Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina (6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (2)) in her first match at the Cincinnati WTA 1000.

It was still a good week for Vekic, who beat American Jennifer Brady (7-6 (5), 7-5) and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (3-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Cincinnati WTA 1000, other third-round results:

• Linda Noskova vs. Coco Gauff
• Daria Kasatkina vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Marie Bouzkova vs. Jessica Pegula: thursday
• Jasmine Paolini (Q) beat Elena Rybakina (4): 4-6, 5-2 ret.
• Iga Swiatek (1) beat Qinwen Zheng: 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
• Karolina Muchova beat Maria Sakkari (8): 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
• Marketa Vondrousova (10) beat Sloane Stephens: 7-5, 6-3