By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, August 17, 2025
Photo credit: Cincinnati Open Facebook
No one plays transition tennis with the tenacity of Iga Swiatek.
So when Elena Rybakina served for the first set today, Swiatek turned deficit into a devastating response.
Dialing up her drives, Swiatek surged through 10 of the last 13 games repelling Rybakina 7-5, 6-3 racing into her maiden Cincinnati Open final and 13th career WTA 1000 title match.
It is Swiatek’s third final in her last four tournaments as the powerful Pole raised her 2025 record to 48-12.
“For sure that was a tough match,” Swiatek told Andrew Krasny afterward. “At the beginning it was pretty crazy we played so fast sometimes we couldn’t even run to the second ball because it was so fast.
“It was good quality and I’m super happy with the performance. I served much better, for sure it helped, I wouldn’t change anything.”
The third-seeded Swiatek won 31 of 38 first-serve points and saved three of four break points defeating Rybakina for the sixth time in 10 meetings, including her fourth win over the world No. 10 this season.
Make that 13 WTA 1000 finals 🔥@iga_swiatek defeats Rybakina 7-5, 6-3 to reach the #CincyTennis final for the first time. pic.twitter.com/ai9YpAW5P7
— wta (@WTA) August 17, 2025
Continuing her hunt for an 11th WTA 1000 championship, Swiatek will be a big favorite in tomorrow night’s final against either seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini or reigning Wimbledon doubles champion Veronika Kudermetova. Swiatek is 5-0 lifetime vs. Paolini; she owns a 4-1 record against Kudermetova.
The 2022 US Open champion Swiatek has a lot riding on the final—if she takes this Cincinnati title, she will surpass Coco Gauff for the world No. 2 ranking and second seed in the US Open, which starts next Sunday.
“Anyone who is gonna be in the final, it’s gonna be super tough,” Swiatek said. “Both of these opponents play different tennis in terms of the spin and the space. I’ll just focus on myself and try to continue the work I’m doing. I’ll continue to focus on that.
“I feel the love here, it’s a great place to be. The people of Cincinnati are so nice anywhere we go, I feel we can have peace and can just relax off the court.”
Relaxation was not on the agenda in the early stages today as drives ricocheted all over the fast Cincinnati hard court.
In a clash of the current and former Wimbledon champions, both women dictated on serve for much of the opening set. The pair traded love holds in the fourth and fifth games.
WTA ace leader Rybakina, who entered this semifinal with 44 aces in the tournament, did not miss a first serve until the sixth game holding to level, 3-all.
In the seventh game, Rybakina ripped a return right at Swiatek’s shoetops and exploited a double fault to earn triple break point. Carving a short-angled forehand winner, Rybakina drew first-break blood for 4-3.
Serving for the set at 5-4, Rybakina ran into Swiatek’s defiance.
The Wimbledon winner took a few steps to her right to intercept the angle on Rybakina’s slider serve on the deuce side. That tactic—and the fact Rybakina lost some sting on serve in that 10th game—helped Swiatek break back exploiting three forehand errors from the ninth seed to level after 10 games.
Swiatek swept her fourth ace holding for 6-5. Serving to force a tiebreaker, Rybakina fell into a love-30 hole. Swiatek spun a big backhand crosscourt scoring her second straight break to seal the 46-minute opening set on a four-game surge.
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. #CincyTennis | @CincyTennis @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/WAyeUOFnMv
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) August 17, 2025
Rybakina stopped a five-game slide with an ace and a drop volley to level the second set, 1-all.
As the match progressed, Swiatek was not only reading the wide serve better, Rybakina’s first-serve speed dipped a bit permitting the Pole to engage in more rallies.
On this day, Swiatek was sharper moving right to hit the running forehand. When Rybakina missed her trademark backhand, Swiatek gained her third break in the last four serve games to go up 3-1.
Swiatek raced through 10 points in a row snatching a 4-1 lead. Just when it looked like the set might be a blowout, Rybakina dug in from triple break point down and unleashed a seven-point surged holding with a high forehand volley for 2-4.
The Kazakh earned two break points in the seventh game, but Swiatek saved both to extend her lead to 5-2.
Still, Rybakina was not finished. She fought off match points and lashed her 10th ace down the T holding for 3-5 then went up love-30 in the following game.
A running backhand strike down the line was the key shot for Swiatek, who leveled 30-all then drew one final forehand error closing one of her best serving performances in 98 minutes.
