MASON, Ohio (AP) — Elena Rybakina stopped playing during the first set of her quarterfinal match against Iga Swiatek at the Cincinnati Open on Thursday night.
With the No. 2-ranked Rybakina serving at 1-4, 40-40, she took a medical timeout to have trainers address her left ankle area and retired from the match moments later.
“Of course I feel not the greatest,” Rybakina said. “It's painful to walk. We'll know more tomorrow when we have the MRI. It's been bothering me for a long period of time but felt like I had it under control.”
After aggravating the injury during the second set on Thursday, she spent several minutes speaking with trainers before returning to the court. She decided to call it quits after she was unable to put full weight on her leg while attempting a serve.
“It was feeling OK before (Thursday’s) match,” Rybakina said. “Unfortunately one wrong movement and something happened.”
With top seed Aryna Sabalenka losing Thursday night to Sara Bejlik, the 27-year-old Rybakina could have risen to No. 1 in the rankings by reaching the final.
Swiatek, the defending champion, has reached at least the semifinals in each of her last four appearances in Cincinnati. Swiatek beat Rybakina in the semifinals in Cincinnati last year. She'll face American Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.
“Not the way you want the match to end,” Swiatek said. “She didn't look good, obviously. Then she wanted treatment and I wasn't sure if she was going to be back or not. She's walking normally now. I felt really sorry for her but hopefully it's nothing serious and she's going to be ready for the U.S. Open.”
Pegula beat fellow American Amanda Anisimova, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4), on Thursday for her tour-leading 44th win of the season. It's her second trip to the semifinals in Cincinnati; she lost to Sabalenka in the final two years ago.
Four American men reached the quarterfinals in Cincinnati for the first time since 1995, but Flavio Cobolli knocked out Tommy Paul on Thursday, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, to reach his fifth semifinal this year and rise to a career-best No. 6 in the rankings. Cobolli is the second Italian man to reach the semis in Cincinnati, joining Jannik Sinner.
Cobolli will face 22-year-old Arthur Fils in the semifinals. Fils beat Thiago Agustín Tirante, 6-3, 6-2, to become the sixth man born since 2000 to reach three ATP Masters 1000 semifinals.
See AP’s full tennis coverage here
Elena Rybakina celebrates her win over Coco Gauff during National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The United States has deported nearly 2,300 Mexicans to Guatemala this year and sent at least dozens more to Honduras, according to official data, a shift from the beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term when such transfers were minimal.
Until now, Mexicans deported from the United States were sent almost exclusively back to their country by air and land. Only a handful arrived in other countries.
Some civil organizations believe this change reported in recent days is a way to increase pressure on Mexico, whose government has protested the deaths of 17 Mexicans in immigration custody or during enforcement operations. This also comes as Trump has expanded agreements with allied Latin American countries to conduct joint operations in the region against criminal groups and has increased its security demands to Mexico.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo confirmed Wednesday night that, so far this year, 2,284 Mexicans deported from the U.S. have arrived in the country as part of a “transit stopover” before being taken to Mexico as part of an “arrangement” with the Mexican government, and without these individuals being under any refugee or asylum status.
“They are arriving on planes carrying Guatemalan returnees, and what we have done is bring them in transit so that, in coordination with Mexican immigration authorities, we can return them to Mexican territory within 24 hours of their arrival in the country,” he explained at a press conference.
The costs of these operations are covered by the Mexican government or, in some cases, by U.S. funding, he added.
Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) confirmed to The Associated Press in a brief message that Mexicans have been deported by the Trump administration to Guatemala and Honduras, primarily since April, and are then transported by bus to southern Mexico.
“The reason is that the United States wants to prevent them from crossing back into its territory,” the institution said. The INM did not provide figures or further details.
Asked about why the Mexicans were sent to Central America and not their own country, and for more details, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, said in an emailed statement that the administration “is utilizing all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, just as President Trump promised.”
“The Mexican government has expressed its opposition to this practice to U.S. authorities and has reiterated that every Mexican citizen has the right to enter the country,” the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. It added that Mexico is coordinating with the countries involved to ensure the safe return of Mexican citizens.
Historically, Mexico has always been willing to receive its deported citizens.
Since Trump’s first term, it has also accepted deportees from third countries, although the details of immigration agreements with Washington have usually been opaque. In 2025, Mexico received some 12,000 deported foreigners, mostly Cubans and Venezuelans, according to figures provided by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. The government has not updated these figures since December although the practice has continued.
Authorities in Honduras also did not respond to requests for comment, but according to official documents from the country accessed by The Associated Press, 82 Mexicans deported from the United States arrived in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on two flights on August 13 and 15. An additional 35 arrived on Thursday.
Another 165 Mexicans were deported to Honduras between May and mid-July, according to the website Third Country Deportation Watch, run by the NGOs Human Rights First and Refugees International, which track U.S. deportation flights to third countries.
The website does not clarify the source of its nationality figures, but both organizations have expressed concern because these transfers could endanger migrants who possibly sought asylum in the U.S. or have few resources in an unknown country.
The deportation tactic “seems to be to put pressure on the Mexican government,” said Savitri Arvey of Human Rights First. “They really don’t want any Mexicans crossing the border.” Some of those deported arrived in Honduras on U.S. military flights, she added.
At the beginning of his second term, with immigration control as one of his priorities, Trump reached agreements with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama to act as “bridge” or destination countries for migrants from third countries expelled from U.S. territory. These agreements gradually expanded to more countries, including some African ones, most recently Liberia.
Until recently, only a handful of Mexicans had been expelled from the U.S. to countries other than Mexico.
Arévalo said on Wednesday that Guatemala received 15 Mexicans in 2025. As of February 2026, Honduras had officially reported the arrival of six. Costa Rica has received 11 Mexicans since Trump’s return to the White House, and according to local immigration authorities, they remain in the country. Presumably, these individuals may have requested not to be returned to Mexico out of fear.
Immigration lawyers believe that the Trump administration is using deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum seekers to return to Mexico when the government cannot send them there because it would violate court orders from immigration judges that recognize the dangers. Organizations and politicians both inside and outside the U.S. have also questioned the use of force by U.S. immigration authorities.
Verza reported from Mexico City and González from Tegucigalpa.
Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Migrants deported from the United States walk to a waiting bus after deplaning at the Ramon Villeda Morales Airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)
Migrants deported from the United States are transported in a bus after arriving on plane at the Ramon Villeda Morales Airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)
Journalists take images of a bus transporting migrants deported from the United States following their arrival at the Ramón Villeda Morales Airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)
FILE - Guatemalans deported from the U.S. arrive at La Aurora airport in Guatemala City, Dec. 30, 2025, after deplaning a repatriation flight. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)
