Iga Swiatek advanced to her first-ever Cincinnati Open final after a thrilling victory over Elena Rybakina.
According to Barrons, the Polish tennis player beat Rybakina 7-5, 6-3 in the ATP-WTA tournament semi-finals on Sunday, August 17, to achieve a new career milestone with the maiden Cincinnati Open final.
The six-time Grand Slam champion successfully recovered from an early break in the first set to surge past 2022 All England winner Rybakina, who outclassed world No. 1 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals.
After winning the match, the 24-year-old said, “It was a great match, and at the beginning, I was even surprised that I was able to keep up with the pace, because we played so fast. I wanted to be there when Elena starts making mistakes. It's impossible to play such a good level throughout the whole match."
“I was playing with intensity and quality. I feel good about my game right now and would not change anything. Anyone who is there will have been playing well,” she added.
Swiatek will now face Jasmine Paolini in the final, who beat Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the semi-finals.
Despite beating the Italian tennis professional in all five previous meetings, the reigning Wimbledon champion knew that she had prepared for a tough final against the player who defeated world number two Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals.
Swiatek and Paolini will meet for the final clash of the Cincinnati Open on Monday, August 18.
