MASON, Ohio − The Cincinnati Open ATP and WTA Closing 4 is about with eight gamers now simply two victories away from hoisting the Rookwood Cup.
Saturday’s quarterfinals noticed the Cincinnati Open discipline minimize in half and arrange 4 big-time showdowns in Sunday’s semifinals. Six of the eight singles gamers are showing of their first semifinal in Cincinnati.
Listed below are the matchups.
(WTA) No. 1 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka
It has been a loopy week in Mason with among the WTA’s prime seeds bowing out early within the event. Nevertheless, when the mud settled on the prime of the primary draw bracket, a must-see semifinal matchup was left between two of the highest tennis gamers on this planet.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek will face World No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka. The duo has mixed to win 36 WTA singles title (Sabalenka additionally has six WTA doubles crowns) with a collective file coming into Cincinnati of 722-256.
Extra:World No. 1 Iga Swiatek wanted a ‘reset.’ The Cincinnati Open is the right place for it
It is one of many fiercest rivalries on the WTA tour, albeit a bit one-sided. Swiatek has taken eight of 11 complete conferences, together with a three-match profitable streak that made stops in Madrid and Rome earlier this yr.
“I feel we’re taking part in nice on each clay and arduous courtroom, and she or he’s taking part in nice on grass. I am not taking part in nice on grass. Some floor will go well with her higher, and a few is for me, going to be somewhat bit simpler,” Swiatek stated.
Every took a special path to semifinal Sunday. Swiatek was pushed to the restrict on Middle Court docket by 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, profitable an exciting three-setter that took 2 hours, 37 minutes. Sabalenka has not dropped a set in Mason this yr, cruising to her third consecutive Cincinnati semifinal with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over World No. 13 Liudmilla Samsonova.
One of many sport’s tops gamers will attain the Cincinnati closing for the primary time.
(WTA) No. 6 Jessica Pegula vs. Paula Badosa
In the perfect match of Quarterfinal Saturday, World No. 6 Jessica Pegula survived a three-hour, four-minute match to defeat Leylah Fernandez, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 (3).
Pegula, who had double faulted six time via the primary two units, did so simply as soon as within the closing set, profitable 65 p.c of her first serve factors and 69 p.c of her second serve factors.
“On a quick courtroom with the sunshine balls and the wind, the momentum can change actually, actually shortly. Second set, I form of ended somewhat bit aggravated, however I used to be capable of reset actually shortly within the third,” Pegula stated.
Pegula is now 9-0 all-time towards Canadian opponents, together with two wins this yr over Fernandez. If she will prolong her present eight-match profitable streak to 10, she is going to turn out to be simply the fifth American to win the Cincinnati Open, and the primary lady since Cincinnati turned a WTA 1000 occasion in 2004 to win Toronto and Cincinnati again to again.
Within the closing ladies’s quarterfinal, Paula Badosa made fast work of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, profitable 6-3, 6-2. It’s her second WTA 1000 arduous courtroom semifinal this yr, having beforehand superior the the ultimate in Washington, D.C.
Badosa ranks ninth on the WTA Tour with 189 aces this yr. She completed the quarterfinal with three, however did win 37 service factors and broke Pavlyuchenkova’s serve three time.
Pegula is 2-0 towards Badosa. The 2 haven’t performed since April 2023.
(ATP) No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 3 Alexander Zverev
Just some hours after Swiatek survived a three-set thriller to advance to the ladies’s semifinals, No. 1 Jannik Sinner did the identical towards No. 6 Andrey Rublev to succeed in his first Cincinnati Open semifinal.
After dropping the primary set 4-6 and trailing late within the second set, Sinner rattled off six straight wins to take the second set, 7-5, and stake a 3-0 lead early within the third. He ultimately completed off the quarterfinal with a 6-4 third set win.
“At this time was very windy and we tried to be as constant as doable, nevertheless it was very troublesome to serve, was very troublesome to return, and in addition within the match itself, it was not straightforward, however I attempted to remain very optimistic,” Sinner stated.
Sinner is now tied with No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz for essentially the most prime 10 wins on the ATP Tour this yr with eight. He additionally improves to 26-2 on the arduous courts this yr.
His opponent is No. 3 Alexander Zverev, who superior to his third straight semifinal in Cincinnati with a 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 win over American Ben Shelton. It’s also his nineteenth ATP Masters 100 semifinal, shifting him right into a tie with Tomas Berdych and Lleyton Hewitt for the eighth-most semifinals since 1990.
A number of gamers have commented on how briskly the courts are taking part in this week, however a further exterior issue was thrown in Saturday with swirling wind. Zverev and Shelton’s semifinal was additionally suspended for about 10 minutes within the third set resulting from rain.
“Being down 4-3 and 5-4 within the closing set and making an attempt to remain within the match, you don’t need the rain delay within the second, however it’s what it’s. Nothing we are able to management, however I really feel like I managed it nicely in the present day,” Zverev stated.
Zverev owns a 5-1 file towards Sinner, together with a 3-0 mark on the arduous courts.
“Hopefully it may be a high-level match,” Zverev stated
(ATP) Frances Tiafoe vs. No. 15 Holger Rune
After Shelton’s exit, Frances Tiafoe is the final American remaining within the males’s singles draw. His match with Hubert Hurkacz lasted simply only one 45-minute set.
Hurkacz retired due to a calf harm after Tiafoe gained the primary set, 6-3. Together with his two hundredth tour-level win, Tiafoe is thru to his first semifinal in Cincinnati. In eight earlier appearances, his greatest end was the Spherical of 16 in 2017.
It is going to be a first-time assembly between Tiafoe and World No. 16 Holger Rune, who may even seem in his first Cincinnati Open semifinal.
The 21-year previous broke Jack Draper at a vital level within the first set of their quarterfinal on his technique to a 6-4 win, then went up 2-0 and 5-2 thanks to 2 extra break factors.
That is Rune’s fourth ATP Masters 1000 semifinal look; he gained his three earlier semifinals. Tiafoe misplaced his solely earlier ATP Masters 1000 semifinal look (2023 Indian Wells to Daniil Medvedev).
