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.

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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.

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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.

Iga Swiatek into her 3rd consecutive semi final in Cincy

For 176 consecutive weeks running, either Aryna Sabalenka
 or Iga Swiatek has been the No. 1 player in the PIF WTA Rankings. Since Ashleigh Barty retired in April 2022, they have won eight of the 14 Grand Slams.

For a week now, the No. 1-seeded Sabalenka and No. 3 Swiatek seemed to have been on a collision course to meet in the Sunday semifinals of the Cincinnati Open. But on Friday, No. 9 Elena Rybakina
 forcefully created an alternative scenario.

Her surprisingly swift and definitive 6-1, 6-4 victory over Sabalenka set up a rare opportunity to produce back-to-back victories over the game’s two most dominant players. Swiatek started the day with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 28 Anna Kalinskaya.

After hitting some turbulence at the end of 2024, she’s back in form and ready for another run at No. 1.

The title at Wimbledon was something a surprise, but after a tidy defeat of Kalinskaya -- who she had never beaten -- Swiatek is into her third semifinal in seven tries at Cincinnati.

A win there would be another step toward the top of tennis, moving Swiatek into her first WTA 1000 final in 15 months -- when she beat Sabalenka in Rome. In the bigger picture, on the heels of her breakthrough victory at Wimbledon, a win would lock down a spot in the WTA Finals for the fifth straight year.

The biggest factor here: Swiatek has a huge edge in energy reserves.

She received a third-round walkover when Marta Kostyuk withdrew with a lingering wrist injury. In the three matches she’s played, Swiatek’s only dropped 19 games. Against Kalinskaya, she served well and the backhand was on point.

Before meeting Sabalenka, Rybakina was extended to three sets against Renata Zarazua, Elise Mertens and Madison Keys -- and she specifically mentioned the need to recover in her on-court interview.

Rybakina came into the season with a 4-2 head-to-head edge on Swiatek, but has lost all three matches this year, at the United Cup in Australia, Doha and Roland Garros. That should give Swiatek a big advantage in confidence.

Swiatek has never been to the final in Cincinnati. She’d love to head into the US Open with that momentum.


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Well Kalinskaya turned out to be not much of a threat at all, as I said in my previous post she's always so hot and cold. 

And today it was the latter. 

Iga did serve much better though and kept her foot on the gas for most of the match. Stayed calm and steady despite another day of scorching temperatures. 

Of course now is the time Rybakina seems to be finding some form and staying true to her serve boting roots and easily takes out Sabalenka. 

Whatever the result come Sunday I hope Iga looks it at as a bit of a free for all and just plays with freedom if she wins great, if not at least she'll have a few extra days off before the last Grand Slam of the year in NYC. 

She can and probably will take a lot of confidence in having a positive H2H with Rybakina now (having beaten her 3 times this year). 

Another thing that might work in her favor is the weather it's suppose to be extremely hot on Sunday and Rybakina has already been through some pretty physical tests, if Iga can do the same in those conditions and really push her physically it might just give her the edge having more in the tank.

I  won't lie and say that very selfishly I want Iga to win so bad especially now with Coco Gauff going out to Jasmine Paolini.

Will be rooting my heart out on Sunday.

But if it doesn't happen as I said at least she'll have a bit extra time for travel and rest.

Jazda!

21- Since the introduction of the Tier1/WTA-1000 format in 1990, Iga Swiatek is the third youngest player to reach 21 semi-finals in such events, only older than Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova. Cruising.

Iga Swiatek stays perfect vs Cristea for 3rd consecutive quarterfinal in Cincy

 

No. 3 seed Iga Swiatek advanced to her third straight Cincinnati Open quarterfinal with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat over Sorana Cirstea in 1 hour and 35 minutes.

Swiatek improved to 5-0 overall against Cirstea, and has now won 10 consecutive sets against the Romanian. The only occasion on which Cirstea managed to take Swiatek to three sets was in their first meeting at the 2022 Australian Open, which Swiatek won 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

Cincinnati is one of only three WTA 1000 events on the current calendar that Swiatek has played without yet reaching the final. She was a semifinalist here in both of the past two years, falling to Coco Gauff at that stage in 2023 and Aryna Sabalenka last year. She will next face either No. 12 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova or No. 28 seed Anna Kalinskaya

Swiatek keeps nose in front: Swiatek made a lightning-fast start to the match, hammering three clean winners en route to an immediate break -- a lead she maintained for the whole of the first set.

A pair of double faults from Cirstea handed the Pole an immediate lead in the second set as well, but Swiatek repaid the favor with two of her own in the subsequent game. Swiatek took a 4-1 lead before dropping serve for a second time, but was able to keep her nose in front and closed out her first match point with a forehand winner.

It was Swiatek's 24th winner of the match compared to Cirstea's nine.

In Swiatek's words: Despite her commanding head-to-head lead, Swiatek did not take her opponent for granted.

"We played many tough matches, so I know Sorana can really hit the ball well -- especially on faster surfaces," she said. "So I was ready. I'm happy I was solid enough. I was trying to be proactive with my serve -- not many of my first serves went in, but I was happy I was solid on my second serves."

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Not bad first couple of rounds from Iga. Sure she's still very clearly getting used to the balls and conditions of Cincy (not to mention the oppressive heat). 

Which is probably why she hasn't quite found her serve here yet. But all in all fairly solid performances. 

I never know what to expect with Kalinskaya honestly, one minute she plays lights out, the next she plays like crap or retires or something. 

So hard to say how this meeting will go. It has been a while since they last met (where Iga lost), so hopefully this time things will be a lot more even with all of Iga's experience behind her. 

She will definitely need that serve to click a little more (because 50 percent probably won't cut it with Kalinskaya nor would it with Saba or Rybakina) who would be her next possible opponents.

I thought this performance was particularly impressive given Iga had 4 days off due to Kostyuk giving her a walkover.

Iga Swiatek eases past Potapova in Cincy opener

 

The last time Iga Swiatek played Anastasia Potapova, the result was as straightforward as it gets: a 40-minute 6-0, 6-0 whitewash in the 2024 Roland Garros fourth round.

In the rematch in the Cincinnati Open second round, Potapova was able to make more of an impact -- but the end result was the same, a 6-1, 6-4 victory for No. 3 seed Swiatek in 1 hour and 13 minutes.

Swiatek needed just 26 minutes to speed through a one-sided first set, but was pushed harder in the second as errors began to creep into her game. However, she was clutch when she needed to be, saving four out of the five break points she faced -- including three as she served for the match. 

The Wimbledon champion will next face No. 25 seed Marta Kostyuk, who delivered a ruthless 51-minute 6-0, 6-1 rout of Tatjana Maria. Swiatek had yet to drop a set to Kostyuk in four previous meetings.

The Pole is a two-time semifinalist in Cincinnati (2023 and 2024), but it is one of just two WTA 1000 events that she has contested so far without yet reaching the final, along with the Canadian Open. (Swiatek is yet to play in Wuhan.)

Best since Seles in opening rounds: Swiatek extended her winning streak in opening matches of WTA tournaments to 64 straight. The last player to achieve this was Monica Seles between Washington 1990 and Oakland 1996. She's also tied Seles for 29 consecutive opening victories in Tier I/WTA 1000 events; since 1990, the only player with a longer such streak is Martina Hingis, who won 39 in a row between Rome 1996 and Montreal 2002.

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Taking the positives out of Iga Swiatek's early exit in Montreal

I'm not all that surprised by this loss honestly, aside from the fact that Canada continues to be a tournament where historically Iga  just doesn't do well Clara Tauson is having a great season and is very dangerous. 

She is the kind of player who can beat anyone when she's on (beat Sabalenka and Rybakina this year). 

I knew that before this match started. 

I have no doubt Iga will figure out Canada one day though.

I actually thought Iga didn't play that bad overall certainly created plenty of chances for herself but was only able to take advantage of one (1 for 8 on breakpoints).

Hard to win a match if you don't win the important points. 

Tauson did exactly that. 

And luck seemed to be on her side as well when it came to deep shots just touching the baseline without going out.

Interestingly Iga did have more winners than Tauson and 8 aces which is good to see (she's averaging more aces per match than ever before). 

I think the lighter balls and conditions made things quite different especially in the day vs night. Wonder if the unforced errors would have been less had she  been playing in hot conditions with less wind. 

Had Iga won that first set tiebreak it might have been different match. But her tiebreak record this year hasn't been great (something I'm sure she'll work on and improve before the season ends). 

There's a lot of debate as per usual in terms of Iga going back to old habits on hardcourts with going for shots too early and overhitting the ball instead of being patient and working the point in a rally and there may be some truth to that (Iga herself admitted in post match that she started doing what she was doing in March). 

But it must also be taken under account that  unlike a lot of the players left in the Montreal draw Iga made it all the way to the final at Wimbledon (and in her grass warm up tournament). 

So it's simply going to take her more than one tournament to find her rhythm on hard so I'm not worried. I could tell she was still finding her groove even when the score line said otherwise in some matches here in Montreal. 

The fact that Iga is aware of the things she was doing wrong is good, it gives her and Wim a good idea of what to work on and try to improve for Cincinnati. 

Which will of course bring it's own different challenges, it being one of the fastest and according to a lot of players low bouncing courts. 

Honestly after Iga won on the grass of Wimbledon, her worst surface a loss like this doesn't seem at all bad. 

She has shown the level is definitely there and with work, and practice things will also click back into gear for her on this surface too. 

It may not happen in Cincy do to the aforementioned speed, but it will not surprise me if things click again at U.S. Open a match slower surface.

Sure it would have been nice had Iga won the title (would have gone back to world #2 thus avoiding meeting Saba in the semis of the U.S. Open). But as in all sport sometimes it's just not your day.

Time for Iga to catch her breath and rest a bit before the next long stretch of play.

On to the next one, Jazda!.

I meanwhile will be cheering on Naomi Osaka who'll be playing Elena Svitolina tomorrow. Should be a wonderful contest. 

Dumping Patrick Mouratoglou has breathed new life into Naomi's game, and Iga's ex coach Tomasz Wiktorowski's calming influence is already visible. 

Although it'll take me a while to get used to him sitting in Naomi's box I'm beyond glad it's having a positive effect. 

She really needed it to boost her confidence and believe in her game because it's still one of the best especially on a hard court.

Iga Swiatek confidently into the round of 16 in Montreal

 

Iga Swiatek broke Eva Lys in a hard-fought opening game, ultimately setting the stage for a straight-sets victory Friday night at the Omnium Banque Nationale.

The result came despite the best efforts of Lys to keep the match competitive while playing from behind.

Swiatek, the World No. 3, finished the job with ease, dispatching Lys 6-2, 6-2 and closing with a forehand winner that secured her spot in the fourth round in Montreal for the first time since 2022. She skipped the tournament last year.

“It’s always fun here,” Swiatek said after the match. “It was a solid match so I’m happy to have a chance to play another one here. The match was different from how we played each other last time. I just focused on myself and knew what my plan was, but Eva played some great down-the-lines and sometimes was really able to use her wrist and play some fast balls.

“It wasn’t easy, but I’m happy I just did my job.”

Here are some more notable stats:

1: In seven service games, Swiatek faced a grand total of one break point (which she saved). Meanwhile, she was able to break the serve of Lys four times and force six break points en route to a straight-sets win.

7: After allowing Lys to win just two games and one game respectively in their first two meetings, Swiatek dropped four games in this match against Lys, bringing the total games won by Lys to just seven compared to the 36 games won by Swiatek.

9: With two wins thus far in Montreal coming off the heels of her Wimbledon title, Swiatek has now won nine consecutive matches, and 12 of her last 13 matches, as she has discovered some of the best form of her career to date.

12: After defeating Lys for the third time, Swiatek remains undefeated in WTA Tour matches against German opponents, advancing her record against them to 12-0. Only Helga Schultze (21-0) has more WTA Tour wins against German players without a loss.

18: At WTA 1000 events, Swiatek has won 18 of her last 19 Round of 16 matches, losing only to Ekaterina Alexandrova last season in Miami Swiatek will face No. 16 seed Clara Tauson
 in Sunday’s Round of 16, their first meeting since 2022. She’s won both prior matchups and will look to keep that streak intact as they play for a spot in the Montreal quarterfinals.

"Well, that's going to be the first time I play a heavy hitter here," Swiatek said of Clauson. "So, I think I'll need to adjust to that, but when she plays in, she plays great."

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With her win over Eva Lys, Iga Swiatek is officially 100-0 in completed matches at WTA 1000 level after winning the first set. 

ONE-HUNDRED achieved at the IGA Stadium! An awesome century, after claiming her 100th Grand Slam match win by winning her 6th major title at Wimbledon.