Iga Swiatek survives a rollercoster at night to reach U.S. Open round of 16

 

Iga Swiatek overcame a slow start to defeat No. 29 seed Anna Kalinskaya 7-6 (2), 6-4 in 1 hour and 56 minutes Saturday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, advancing to the Round of 16 at the US Open for the fifth straight year.

Swiatek trailed 5-1 and faced four set points in the opening set before mounting a comeback, winning six of the next seven games and dominating the tiebreak. She carried that momentum into the second set to close out the match in straight sets.

How did she do it? Even the former World No. 1 herself couldn’t explain it.

“Oh, my God, I don’t know,” Swiatek said after the match. “Honestly, Anna was playing great. She was getting all these risky balls in like she once did against me in Dubai. So, I just wanted to make less mistakes, because I felt like I was playing well.

“I felt like I had nothing to lose because I was losing pretty badly. So, at the end (of the first set) I just went for it, because what more can I do?"

The victory marks Swiatek’s 23rd career main-draw win at the US Open. She only has more at Roland Garros (40) in a single WTA-level tournament.

Here are some takeaways following Swiatek’s remarkable third-round comeback:

Serving struggles: After jumping out to a big lead in the first set, it was ultimately Kalinskaya’s serve that unraveled her chances against Swiatek.

Kalinskaya committed 11 double faults on the night, many at crucial moments. She served for the first set three times, but double faults in each of those games led to breaks. By the time the players reached the tiebreak, she had already tallied seven.

Swiatek wasn’t flawless on serve either, landing just over 43% of first serves. Still, she won 76% of those points and converted 50% on her second serve -- 14 percentage points higher than Kalinskaya. Swiatek faced only two break points in the second set, maintaining control as Kalinskaya’s serve continued to falter.

Swiatek’s tiebreak breakthrough: Tiebreaks have been a rare weak spot for Swiatek this season.

Entering Saturday’s match, she was 4-7 in tiebreaks at the WTA level in 2025 and 0-2 in tiebreaks at Grand Slams. Her 7-2 win in the opening-set tiebreak marked her first since defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova in a second-set tiebreak in the Bad Homburg quarterfinals in June.

Fittingly, Alexandrova awaits in the next round.

Looking ahead: Swiatek will face Alexandrova in the fourth round Monday.

She holds a 5-2 head-to-head advantage at the WTA level. While Swiatek won their most recent meeting in Bad Homburg, Alexandrova claimed their last hard-court clash in Miami last year.

A win Monday would send Swiatek to her third career US Open quarterfinal.

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I'm just going to chulk this performance especially serve wise to Iga playing her first night match of the tournament. 

Which she's generally not a fan of anywhere, but especially here where it's extra loud and rowdy due to people walking around being a little tipsy etc. 

I think that might have messed up her concentration quite a bit. 

Still have no idea how she won that first set (got a bit lucky with Kalinskaya squandering 3 chances to serve it out) and was also helped out by so many double faults. 

But I give her huge credit for not blowing a gasket when it comes to her service percentage. It was probably the worst I've seen her serve on a hard court in years. 

Thankfully she didn't seem to notice as she pointed out in her post match interview and just went about her business anyway.

She will definitely need to find her first serve against Alexandrova because she will not be gifting Iga chances the way Kalinskaya was today. 

Thankfully Iga will be playing in the afternoon so that should help her serve better. 

And having faced a flat hitter in Kalinskaya she'll at least be well prepared for the same with Alexandrova. 

3 - Iga Swiatek has reached all four Women’s Singles rounds of 16 at Grand Slams in a season for the third time, becoming the first player to achieve the feat in three seasons since Agnieszka Radwanska in 2016. Reference.

20 - Two players (Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka) have claimed 20 Women’s Singles match wins at Grand Slams in a season for the first time since 2016 (Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams). Sabatek.

20 - Since 2000, only three players have reached 20 Women’s Singles rounds of 16 in fewer Grand Slam main draws than Iga Swiatek (27) – Venus Williams (23), Martina Hingis (25) and Serena Williams (26). Company.

Iga Swiatek through to 3rd round at U.S. Open

 

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek survived a stern test from Suzan Lamens in the second round of the US Open, but eventually pulled through 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 6 minutes to extend her winning streak to seven matches.

After a one-sided opening set, Swiatek twice led by a break in the second, but was unable to put away a valiant Lamens as the Dutchwoman settled into the contest -- resulting in Swiatek's first dropped set since her fourth-round loss in Montreal to Clara Tauson. 

In the decider, she also had to hold off a late charge from 4-1 down by Lamens. However, it wasn't enough to prevent Swiatek from notching her 16th win in her past 17 matches, a stretch that includes the Wimbledon and Cincinnati titles this summer.

The Pole will next face No. 29 seed Anna Kalinskaya, who defeated Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 7-5 to reach the US Open third round for a second straight year. Swiatek and Kalinskaya have split two previous meetings, with Kalinskaya winning 6-4, 6-4 in the 2024 Dubai semifinals and Swiatek avenging that loss 6-3, 6-4 in the Cincinnati quarterfinals two weeks ago.

How did Lamens manage to push Swiatek?

The late-blooming Lamens has little experience at the very top of the game. This year has seen her play each of the Grand Slam main draws for the first time at the age of 26, and her matchup with Swiatek was just the third time she had faced a Top 10 opponent in her career. But there have been signs that she has the game to compete at this level. Last April, she notched her first Top 10 win over Jelena Ostapenko in Billie Jean King Cup Group III action. In October, she captured her first Hologic WTA Tour title in Osaka as a qualifier. In the past 12 months, she's risen from No. 121 to No. 66 in the PIF WTA Rankings.

Though over-matched in the first set, Lamens was able to bring her best weaponry to the court in the second: a heavy topspin forehand which she could direct to every corner for winners, a sneaky drop shot and a fine backhand lob. The latter was responsible for the best shot of the match -- and one with which she broke Swiatek back for 2-2 in the second set.

By now, Lamens had warmed to her task and become accustomed to Swiatek's weight of shot, drawing the six-time major champion into several excellent extended rallies. Down a break again at 4-3, Lamens lost one of the longest, a 22-stroke lungbuster -- but the pressure she had started to exert was evident as Swiatek coughed up two double faults to lose her break lead again. Two games later, Swiatek delivered another error-strewn service game to send the match into a decider.

How did Swiatek get back on track?

"The third set is a reset," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "You gotta start from the beginning and play a little bit more precise."

That's exactly what she did. Having committed 12 unforced errors in the second set, she reduced that number to seven in the third. And she began to punish Lamens relentlessly for her vulnerability on serve. Four of Lamens' eight double faults came in the third set, including twice to go down break point. Swiatek converted both of those by unleashing on a second-serve return, and leapt out to a quick 4-1 lead.

Lamens battled to retrieve one of the breaks, but Swiatek maintained her focus this time -- and came up with a superb hot shot of her own, a laser backhand winner into the corner off a Lamens smash. She converted her third match point with her seventh ace of the day.

"I know that I kind of let her in after the first set, and she used her chances and she immediately knew what to do with that," Swiatek said. "So for sure, she deserves the games that she won. I wouldn't say surprised. But yeah, I think she got her level up a bit in terms of not making so many mistakes, as she did in the first set."

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Iga definitely lost her concentration mid way through that match but got it back when it mattered. 

Kalinskya could be tricky in night conditions (and it'll be Iga's first night match too). 

23/23 - Iga Swiatek is the first player in the Open Era to reach the Third Round at all Women’s Singles Grand Slam events for the first six years in a single decade (23/23 in 2020s). Law.


23 - Iga Swiatek is the fourth player in the Open Era to reach the Third Round in 23+ consecutive Women’s Singles Grand Slam events after Martina Navratilova, Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Habit.

Iga Swiatek cruises through first round at U.S. Open

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek continued her 2025 resurgence by cruising through her US Open first round 6-1, 6-2 over Emiliana Arango in exactly an hour.

Swiatek snapped a 13-month title drought in July by capturing her first Wimbledon title -- her sixth Grand Slam crown in total -- and backed that up by lifting the Cincinnati trophy for the first time two weeks ago. Having fallen to No. 8 in the PIF WTA Rankings in June, she's already returned to No. 2 this week. The 2022 champion at Flushing Meadows, a second title here this fortnight would make Swiatek the first player to win both Wimbledon and the US Open since Serena Williams in 2012 -- and could potentially mean she reclaims the World No. 1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka

Swiatek will next face No. 66-ranked Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands, who defeated 18-year-old wild card Valerie Glozman 6-4, 6-2. Lamens, who claimed her first WTA title last October in Osaka, has played the main draws of all four majors for the first time this year, making the second round of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and now the US Open.


Here are the key numbers from Swiatek's victory:

65: Swiatek has now won 65 consecutive opening matches at tour level (including the United Cup and the WTA Finals), breaking Monica Seles's Open Era record of 64 consecutive opening victories between Washington 1990 and Oakland 1996. Swiatek's last opening loss was at the 2021 WTA Finals Guadalajara to Maria Sakkari ; her last opening loss in a knockout tournament was to Ons Jabeur at Cincinnati 2021.


26: Swiatek improved to 26-1 overall in Grand Slam first-round matches; her only such loss came at Wimbledon 2019 to Viktorija Golubic. 

She is the first player since Serena Williams to win at least 26 of her first 27 Grand Slam openers; Williams won her first 46 in a row from her 1998 Australian Open debut until her streak was snapped by Virginie Razzano at Roland Garros 2012.

24: Swiatek has won 24 consecutive Grand Slam first-round matches -- the first player to do so since fellow Pole Agnieszka Radwanska, who won 24 straight between Roland Garros 2009 and the Australian Open 2015 inclusive. Radwanska's streak was snapped by Annika Beck at Roland Garros 2015.

8: This was the first meeting between Swiatek and Arango at pro level, but eight years ago they met for the only time at junior level in the second round of Roland Garros 2017. Swiatek won 6-2, 6-3 en route to the quarterfinals, where she fell to Marta Paigina.

26: Swiatek fired 25 winners to Arango's five, and committed 14 unforced errors to the Colombian's nine.

11: Swiatek won 11 out of 13 net points, including a superb backhand stab volley at 3-2, 30-30.

0: Swiatek did not face a break point in the match, and dropped just 10 points on serve in total.

0-0: Swiatek's second-round meeting with Lamens will be the first time the two have played each other.

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Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud U.S. Open mixed doubles finalists

Back before the US Open mixed doubles tournament became a singles-dominant event, Sara Errani
 and Andrea Vavassori took the title a year ago.

This year, with so many top singles players in the draw, the Italian team was something of an afterthought. And why not?

In Thursday night’s final, it was the unseeded wild-card team of Errani and Vavassori up against the No. 3 seeds Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud, ranked No.2 and No. 12 in singles.

For the record, Errani came into the match ranked No. 291 singles among Hologic WTA Tour players and Vavassori was the ATP Tour’s No. 306, having split two matches this year and compiling a career record of 10-13 for his career.

No contest, right?

Wrong. The doubles players, playing the game to which they’re accustomed, prevailed 6-3, 5-7 [10-6] in a match-tiebreak.

“I guess doubles players are better tactically than singles players,” Swiatek said afterward.

The 38-year-old Errani and Vavassori defended their title in front of an enthusiastic, sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium and collected a cool $1 million, which they will split.

“Thanks to my partner,” Vavassori told the crowd. “Thanks for the energy, it’s unbelievable for me to play with you. We’ve shown today that doubles is a great product.”

With the mixed title at Roland Garros this spring, they have now won three of the past five Grand Slam mixed titles.

Both sides converted three break points, but Errani and Vavassori were more efficient, stroking 25 winners, against only 12 unforced errors.

“I loved every minute of it,” ESPN analyst Mary Joe Fernandez said. “These two, Vavassori and Errani, they know each other’s style, they know each other so well. I think in a year we’ll see better meshing from the singles players.”

The final came only after both semifinals were decided earlier Wednesday. Here’s how the path to the championship match unfolded.

Semifinal No. 1

No. 3 Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud def. No. 1 Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper 3-5, 5-3 [10-8]

After 12 straight mixed doubles matches that ended in straight sets, this one went the distance. But when Swiatek double-faulted, she and Ruud found themselves down 8-4 in the match-tiebreak. Somehow, they found a way to win the last six points. The final stroke was a winner from Swiatek who called it the “most important volley of my life.”

Semifinal No. 2

Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori def. Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison 4-2, 4-2

The winners took 18 of their 21 first-serve points and five of 11 second-serve points. “Goose bumps,” Errani said afterward. Vavassori and Errani were far more efficient, hitting 20 winners and only six unforced errors.

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What a crazy couple of days for Iga Swiatek, she went from winning Cincinnati on Monday straight to New York city that same night where 16 hours later on Tuesday afternoon at 12pm she was back on court in mixed doubles.

Where she was playing with Casper Ruud for the very first time and they were very close to beating the seasoned doubles pair of Vavassori and Errani. 

Despite having one walkover in Cincy Iga essentially played 4 more matches in a different city and state. Not only that but she played two matches in one day on back to back days. 

Her Cincy opponent Poalini withdrew from the event to get some rest while Iga chose to honor her commitments and made it all the way to the final. Respect.

I think she did it partially to  thank Casper for the lovely support he showed her on social media when she was having a really rough time (after the Bad Homburg warm up event where she lost to Pegula). 

Which of course was her first final since last year's Roland Garros also her last title.  

He was the only one from both tours that give a public show of support and encouragement. 

After that final on the grass the title drought ended and she won Wimbledon. 

So I think this was her way of paying him back for his kindness and keeping her word playing together at this event. 

The mutual respect between them is turning into a lovely friendship a rare thing on the tennis tour where aside from their close knit team singles players are on their own.

I can see why Iga likes Casper (platonically of course).  

Being Norwegian he's very even tempered, polite, has a great work ethic and doesn't cause drama. He also doesn't have an ego and a certain flamboyancy like so many on tour. 

His game may not be the most exciting but it is very solid and gives plenty of players on tour trouble when he's in his groove. 

I hope playing with Iga will help him gain the confidence to turn his season around the way his encouragement did for Iga. 

As for Iga herself what better training than a match setting like this, I saw her hit so many fantastic volley's over the past few days. 

Whatever else I'd say she got some hugely invaluable experience out of it. And she did seem be be having some genuine fun. I've missed seeing Iga having fun on court. So thank you Casper.

Thanks to you Iga is now a finalist in all disciplines of tennis. (singles, doubles and mixed) :)

As for the revamped Mixed Doubles Slam event itself I guess it'll remain to be seen whether it'll be successful long term, or if the novelty will wear off. 

There are parts of it I like (but I think it'll always feel strange to call it Slam). 

The fast 4 scoring actually works in this case, and making it the standard 6 games for the final makes sense as well. 

The timing of the event will definitely need to be workshopped more because there's no way players will play the final of Cincinnati and than turn around and play in New York the following day not feasible long term. 

The paring will also have to be decided upon differently not sure I like the idea  of wildcards as entries (at least not so many). 

And to make it fair I think there may have to be a more even ratio of doubles vs singles players. 

All in all an interesting idea with some great potential, but as I said remains to be seen if it'll stick.

Iga Swiatek from Cincy Open champ to NYC mixed doubles winner

Watching some of the great singles players in mixed doubles ahead of the US Open main singles draws was an unprecedented treat.

Perhaps Wednesday’s best point came when Emma Raducanu somehow tracked down a thunderous overhead from Jack Draper -- and Carlos Alcaraz eventually finished with an improbable around-the-net winner.

But more than anything, the results of the first day before big, supportive crowds in Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadiums underlined just how special those “doubles specialists” are.

Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori look like the favorites heading into Thursday night’s semifinals and finals. Maybe it’s because they are the most fluent team, the only pure doubles specialists in the field -- as well as the defending US Open mixed champions and winners of the title earlier this year at Roland Garros.

“Tactics in doubles are very important,” Vavassori said. “There are many very strong players here, but we often play together, we also talk off the court, and this is important.

“We also play for all the doubles players who cannot compete at the mixed doubles tournament here. We try to do our best.”

In 12 matches, four went to a second-set tiebreak -- but not one went to a third set.

The Thursday semifinals and finals are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET.

Round of 16

No. 1 Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper def. Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu 4-2, 4-2

The skinny: The 50-minute match was decided by superior net play, from both Draper and Pegula -- who has played the doubles quarterfinals at all four majors. They won 24 of 34 service points and were not broken. They converted their fifth match point on Pegula’s serve with a winner from Draper.

No. 3 Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud def. Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe, 4-1, 4-2

The skinny: Swiatek looked fresh, considering she stepped off the court in Cincinnati 16 hours earlier. She and Ruud needed only 39 minutes to dispatch the Americans, who had five double faults and were broken twice.

Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev def. Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic, 4-2, 5-3

The skinny: Danilovic and Djokovic were up 3-1 in the second set before the winners came back to take the last four games. The winners saved two of three break points and hit a combined 10 winners, against only six unforced errors.

Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti def. Naomi Osaka
 and Gael Monfils 5-3, 4-2

The skinny: There were some awkward moments -- Musetti, aggressively running down a lob, almost knocked McNally off her feet -- but the makeshift team prevailed comfortably. When Paolini withdrew, McNally stepped in to become Musetti’s partner.

Quarterfinals

Pegula and Draper def. Andreeva and Medvedev, 4-1, 4-1

The skinny: This was the most one-sided of Wednesday’s matches, with the winners taking 36 of 62 points. They forged 10 break-point opportunities and converted three.

No. 3 Swiatek and Ruud def. McNally and Musetti, 4-1, 4-2

The skinny: This one required only 46 minutes, while the winners saved both break opportunities against them. “Even though we haven’t played together, we had good communication on the court,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview.

Wednesday's semifinals: Pegula and Draper vs. Swiatek and Ruud

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Iga Swiatek first Polish player to win Cincinnati Open!

There are few things Iga Swiatek has yet to achieve on a tennis court, and the list got shorter Monday in Cincinnati.

After falling behind 0-3 early in the first set, Swiatek rallied to defeat No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini
 7-5, 6-4 in 1 hour and 49 minutes to win her first Cincinnati Open title.

She is the first Polish player in the Open era to win a singles title at the event.

For Swiatek, it’s her 24th career Hologic WTA Tour singles title and her 11th at the WTA 1000 level. It’s her second WTA title of 2025, coming a month after she won Wimbledon.

“I don’t know why I win the tournaments that we’re like the last ones in terms of what I thought they were going to be,” Swiatek said at the trophy presentation. “So, thank you (to my team) for forcing me to become a better player and learn how to play on all these faster surfaces.

“I’m kind of shocked and super happy, so thank you for the awesome support, to the team and to my family back home.”

The victory comes just ahead of the US Open, where Swiatek will enter as the No. 2 seed following her Cincinnati title. She entered Monday’s final needing a win to surpass Coco Gauff
 in the PIF WTA Rankings.

The six-time Grand Slam champion had to work for it.

Paolini started fast, breaking in the opening game and racing to a 3-0 lead. It was at that point she came within millimeters of another break point. But Swiatek’s ball barely clipped the line, keeping her in control of the game.

Swiatek held serve, then won the next four games to go up 5-3. After getting broken while serving for the set, she broke back a couple games later and went on to win the set 7-5.

The second set featured five breaks of serve as the players traded breaks back and forth, but Swiatek, who finished the match a perfect six-for-six converting break points, eventually closed out the match in straight sets.

She improves to 105-0 in completed matches after winning the opening set at WTA 1000 events.

Swiatek didn’t drop a single set en route to the title, a run that included victories over Top 10 players such as Paolini in the final and Elena Rybakina in the semifinals. Since 1990, her winning percentage against WTA Top 10 players trails only Steffi Graf and Serena Williams.

For Paolini, it’s her fifth loss in five matches against Swiatek and her second in a final. Still, her performance was an encouraging sign.

Coming into Cincinnati, Paolini had won just three matches in her past four tournaments. She defeated Grand Slam champions Barbora Krejcikova and Gauff on her way — for the third time in a row — en route to the final. Her run lifts her to No. 8 in the world, giving her a top eight seed at the US Open.

A win Monday would have given Paolini her third career WTA 1000 title. Instead, she'll head to New York along with Swiatek, where both players will have another opportunity to add a big title to their resume.

wtatennis.com

What a rollercoaster of a final this turned into mostly because Iga's first serve percentage was a bit all over the place with aces and double faults (9 aces 7 doubles). 

Most of the unforced errors were probably caused by having to play in night time conditions in the final vs day throughout pretty much the whole tournament.

But she held it together when it mattered in the important moments and even ended with an ace. 

I did fear we may end up in a 3rd set the way she was having trouble holding serve in the 2nd. 

Credit to Jasmine because she took some of the opportunities she was given and really made it a match. 

Not a pretty match mind you, but a a very entertaining one nonetheless.

So this makes it WTA title #11 and career title #24 she now has a title for every year she's been alive!. :D Wild. 

Also 11-2 in Finals.

She went from zero titles for a whole year to back to back titles on 2 very different surfaces (2 of her worst ones to boot!). 

Once a champion always a champion :).

With this win she's back to world #2 and definitely in contention to possibly grab the world #1 from Aryna before the season is through. 

But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. 

For now let's just enjoy another fantastic win from the unstoppable force of nature that is Iga Swiatek.

And to think instead of enjoying this victory a bit more, she's literally getting on a plane tonight and flying to NYC to play glorified exhibition mixed doubles match with Casper Ruud tomorrow.

Because the tennis hamster wheel never stops. 

Congrats champ, hope you at least get some decent sleep on the plane.

See you in New York.

Jazda!. 

52 - Iga Swiatek has now won 52 of her 75 matches vs WTA top 10 players – since 1990, only Monica Seles (61) and Steffi Graf (53) have claimed more wins from their first 75 against WTA top 10 opponents. Absurd.

11 - Iga Swiatek has claimed an 11th career WTA-1000 title, surpassing Victoria Azarenka (10) for the outright second-most of any player since the format’s introduction in 2009, trailing only Serena Williams (13). Greatness.

Iga Swiatek first time Cincy Open Finalist!

 

When Elena Rybakina started so fabulously fast in their Sunday semifinal, winning five of the first eight games, doubt seeped into Iga Swiatek’s mind.

Not for long, though.

“At the beginning, I was even surprised that I’m able to keep up with the pace, because we played so fast,” Swiatek told reporters later. “I mean, I just wanted to be there when Elena starts making mistakes -- because I think it’s impossible to play such a good level throughout the whole match.

“Honestly, we played with such a high intensity, I was just going for it. I knew I couldn’t take the foot off the gas.”

Looking like the six-time Grand Slam champion she is, Swiatek rallied famously, winning eight of the next nine games to defeat the No. 9-seeded Rybakina 7-5, 6-3 and advance to Monday’s final at the Cincinnati Open (6 p.m., ET).

She’ll play No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, who was a 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 winner over Veronika Kudermetova.

Swiatek has won all five previous matches against Paolini -- the most recent was 6-1, 6-3 on the grass at Bad Homburg.

Serving with powerful yet clinical precision, Elena Rybakina jumped out to a 5-3 lead over Swiatek in their semifinal match. And when Swiatek fell into a 15-30 hole, it looked like the set might elude her grasp.

And then, Swiatek did Swiatek things, winning eight of the next nine games.

How did she do it? Swiatek moved her return position back to deal with Rybakina’s big outside serves in both the ad and deuce courts. Her defense and superior movement extended rallies and Rybakina just couldn’t hang. At the same time, her amped-up serve paid dividends on Cincinnati’s medium-fast hard courts.

That’s the kind of problem solving that wins matches -- and why she’s a strong favorite to win this final. This is her third final of the last four tournaments she’s played.

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.

History suggests Paolini will have her hands full. Swiatek has won 10 of the 11 sets they’ve played -- her forehand has simply been too much for Paolini to absorb.

Swiatek has a vast edge in experience as well. This is her 13th WTA 1000 final in only her 39th appearance. That means she’s batting a robust .333. Only Maria Sharapova (25) and Serena Williams (27) have reached 13 finals in 1000s in fewer appearances since the format introduction in 2009.

This is only Paolini’s third WTA 1000 final.

It’s worth noting that Swiatek has now won 50 matches against Top-10 players -- in 73 tries. Paolini, we should reiterate, is a Top 10 player.

The way Swiatek’s been slicing through the field, it’s hard to imagine her losing. She has yet to lose a set and has dropped only 27 games in the four matches she’s won on court -- there was also a walkover against Marta Kostyuk.

wtatennis.com

Well I've been wanting to see Iga raise her level on serve and in general at this tournament and boy, did she do that today!.

The first 3 games of the first set were a masterclass in serving. 

The doubts creeped in when she had one bad service game to get broken I thought for sure Rybakina would serve it out and Iga would have to find a way to win it in 3. 

But Iga was just on another level today (as she so often is when she's in a groove).  She has been trying to find that groove all tournament and finally found it today. 

Instead of getting frustrated about getting broken and overhitting she just knuckled down and broke back the minute Rybakina's first serve started missing.

She knew it was her chance and took that first set back from a break down.  

In the 2nd set she really used her athleticism and speed to make Rybakina move and have to hit really good shots. 

But I'd say the most impressive was when she wasn't able to take the 3 breakpoints in set 2 and 2 match  points on Rybakina's serve. 

The old Iga would have gotten really upset and panicked, but Wimbledon Champion Iga kept her calm and just worked each point (didn't even panic at love 30 down serving for it). 

Outstanding mental resolve. 

This is her 4th win of the year over Rybakina (she now has a positive 6-4 H2H). 

I love the way she kept adjusting her position when returning actually stepping back and forward when needed (something she started doing at Wims suggestion) and it has paid real dividends against a big server and big hitter like Rybakina.

It's the best she has played on a hard court since Australian Open in January. 

She reached this final without losing a set something she's never done in Cincy.

A mighty impressive display. 

Iga has now made the final in her worst tournaments/surfaces in the same year (the grass of Wimbledon and fast courts of Cincy). Those are some staggering improvements. 

This is Iga's 29th WTA final. Astounding.  

And if she wins tomorrow she'll be back to world #2. 

Right before the U.S. Open. 

Also with today's win she also officially qualified for the WTA Finals in Riyadh. 2025 is looking up.

Her next opponent is Jasmine Paolini who she has a perfect record against, I never underestimate an opponent but if Iga is a fraction as focused and intense, as in this match, she's taking the title. 

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek in WTA 1000 matches where she won the first set 104-0 (100%)

13 - Iga Swiatek (13) has equalled Aryna Sabalenka and Petra Kvitova (13 each) for the fifth most finals in WTA-1000 since the format introduction in 2009. Climbing.

13 - Since 1990, Iga Swiatek is the third youngest player to reach 13 Tier 1/WTA-1000 finals, older only than Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova. Stunning.