MASON, Ohio — Ashleigh Barty was upset by Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-4 in the Western & Southern Open semifinals, missing her chance to return to the No. 1 ranking ahead of the US Open.
Barty dropped an opening set Saturday for the third straight match, but couldn’t overcome the slow start this time. A resurgent Kuznetsova earned her third win over a top-10 player this week and reached the final for the first time this season.
Barty had slipped behind Naomi Osaka in the latest rankings. She would have jumped back ahead by winning Saturday. Osaka, the defending US Open champion, withdrew in the quarterfinals with a sore knee.
Serena Williams dropped out during her first match of the tournament because of back spasms.
This article was originally published by Espn.com. Read the original article here.