Iga Swiatek fights off a spirited younger opponent to make back to back semis in Cincy

World No.1 Iga Swiatek will play World No.3 Arnya Sabalenka in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open after the Grand Slam champions both won their quarterfinal matches in contrasting fashion on Saturday.

Swiatek advanced to the final four at the Lindner Family Tennis Center for the second year in a row after coming from behind to defeat 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in Saturday's first quarterfinal, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, before Sabalenka eased to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Liudmila Samsonova to set the 12th installment of her and Swiatek's all-time rivalry.

Swiatek has won eight of her 11 prior matches against Sabalenka, including both matches this year in the finals of Madrid and Rome. They last played on hard courts in the semifinals of the WTA Finals -- also won by Swiatek -- but haven't played at a hard-court tournament that isn't the season-ending championships since they dueled in the semifinals of the 2022 US Open, which Swiatek also won from a set down.

Swiatek denies Andreeva another milestone

The fourth player younger than 18 to ever reach a WTA 1000-level quarterfinal since the tournament tier debuted in 2009, Andreeva raced out of the gates quickly in her first-ever meeting with the World No.1 -- showing no nerves nor frustration in windy conditions. She broke serve at 1-1 and kept her lead throughout the first set, saving two break points in both the sixth game and 10th game.

Forced to raise her level, Swiatek responded: She broke in Andreeva's first service game of the second set, and didn't face a break point herself until the match's final game. Given an opportunity to level the final set at 6-6 and force a winner-take-all tiebreak, Andreeva's backhand return missed well long -- and Swiatek wrapped up the 2-hour, 30-minute win two points later.

Swiatek is now 10-0 in quarterfinal matches in 2024 -- and the win was her 30th at a WTA 1000 this season. Only Serena Williams (36, 2013) has won more matches at that level in a single season in the last 15 years.

wtatennis.com


I said this match was going to be interesting and it certainly was that!. 

Mirra Andreeva came out swinging and really made Iga work for it in fairly hot conditions first up on center court. 

She was serving very well (had quite a few aces) constantly putting pressure on Iga to hold. 

She definitely felt zero intimidation and played completely free as a lot of first time opponents of Iga's tend to do.

I knew Mirrra was probably going to make it competitive based on how well she has been playing in Cincy but I was still surprised by just how high a level she showed. She did have a slight wobble towards the end and in really important moments that Iga was able to thankfully take advantage of. 

Iga for her part didn't have her best tennis today and really had to grit out this win. It was another one of those fun battles that her fans won't soon forget this season. 

Really proud of how she held it together for 2 and a half hours despite a lot of frustration throughout. 

Cincy and Canada are her worst tournaments win percentage wise so I'd love it if she could turn at least one of them around. 

Today she fought and found a way and in tennis that's all that matters in the end. 

Next up it'll be a 12th meeting with Sabalenka been a while since they have met on a hard court. 

Lot of people are giving Aryna the edge due to the fast court conditions, but I'm not convinced. Aryna can still be quite error prone when push comes to shove and she's put under a lot of pressure with a close score line.

My hope is that they're both able to put on a good show. 

This tournament needs at least one really memorable match because so far there have been glimpses but none that really make you sit up and take notice.  

Win or lose these kind of tests are great preparation for the U.S. Open.

Jazda Iga!

Give it your all you've got nothing to lose at this point go for it!.