First-time finalists Swiatek and Paolini set up summit clash in Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Aug 18 (IANS) Iga Swiatek reached the final of the Cincinnati Open for the first time in her career with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Elena Rybakina at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

Having lost in the semifinals in the Queen City in each of the last two years, No. 3 seed Swiatek overcame a 5-3 deficit in the first set to claim victory. The Wimbledon champion won 10 of the last 13 games to take her fourth straight win against Rybakina and her sixth win against the Kazakh in 10 tour-level meetings, WTA reports.

Swiatek took a while to get to full flight on P&G Center Court. After the match began with six straight holds of serve, Rybakina moved into the ascendency by winning three straight games to establish a two-game cushion.

Swiatek has now reached the final in three of her last four tournaments played, after not reaching one in more than a year.

With the win over Rybakina, Swiatek secured her place at the WTA Finals in Riyadh and climbed back to No. 2 in the PIF WTA Rankings, placing her at the bottom of the US Open draw next week

Swiatek will face No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini

in Monday's final as she seeks an 11th career WTA 1000 title.

Paolini also reached the Cincinnati Open final for the first time in her career, defeating Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in the semifinals.

It is Paolini's second WTA 1000 final of the season and the third of her career. She has won the previous two. She became the first Italian woman in the Open era to reach the singles final in Cincinnati.

Swiatek will take a 5-0 record into the final with Paolini. Monday’s final will be their fifth career meeting. The two also met in the 2024 French Open final.

“She’s an amazing player and it’s always tough to play her. She defends really well, and her serving is good too, so it’s going to be tough, but I’ll try to do my best in the final. I like the conditions here, so that’s fine, and hopefully it’s going to be a good match," Paolini said of Swiatek.

Swiatek leads the head-to-head 4-0, including a 6-1, 6-3 win in the Bad Homburg semifinals in June.

"Jasmine, she plays fast, but with a lot of spin, and she has a lot of variety in terms of going to the net as well. I think I'm gonna have to prepare tactically, but honestly, I'm just gonna kind of focus on myself," Swiatek said.

--IANS

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