Swiatek Reaches WTA 1000 Final At Cincinnati Open

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek (photo: Kathryn Riley/Wick Photography for Cincinnati Open)

CINCINNATI/WASHINGTON, August 18, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Coming into Sunday afternoon’s Cincinnati Open women’s singles semifinals at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, major champions Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina had met 11 previous times, with the six-time Grand Slam champion from Poland owning a 6-5 advantage. While Rybakina made a statement in knocking off World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, 6-1, 6-4 in Friday’s quarterfinal round, it was time for her to stand and deliver.

When push came to shove, though, it was the World No. 3 Swiatek who maintained her focus. She won 10 of the last 13 games to defeat the World No. 10 Rybakina, 7-5, 6-3, in one hour and 38 minutes on P&G Center Court. It was Swiatek’s 48th victory of the 2025 season – including 13 wins in her last 14 matches – and fourth straight win over Rybakina. The 24-year-old Polish superstar also advanced to her first WTA 1000 final since Rome last year and 13th WTA 1000 final overall.

The triumph put Swiatek in the running to win her 24th career WTA Tour title on Monday evening, where she will meet World No. 9 Jasmine Paolini of Italy. Paolini ended the run of No. 36 Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in the second semifinal match.

After trailing 3-5 (15-30), and having won just four points on her opponent’s serve, Swiatek won four games in a row on the trot – including consecutive breaks of Rybakina’s serve – to win the 46-minute opening set 7-5. Swiatek became more aggressive with her returns and capitalized on Rybakina’s drop in her first serve. It should be noted that Rybakina’s had not lost a set in which she was serving for it in her last three semifinals – all in the past month. However, Swiatek changed the dynamics of the first semifinal match in a matter of a few games.

Next, Swiatek took the confidence she built from coming on strong to win the opening set and parlayed it effectively in the second set. Swiatek built a 4-1 lead after breaking Rybakina’s serve in the fourth game and continued to put pressure on her opponent. She gained three break points before Rybakina was able to hold serve in the sixth game. However, with a break lead and the finish line coming into focus, Swiatek faced the challenge of staring down two break points in her next service game at 4-2 (15-40). But she proceeded to win four straight points to hold for a 5-2 advantage. Then, Swiatek gained two match points during Rybakina’s next service game, which the Kazakh promptly fought off. Rybakina went on to hold serve during a 10-point skirmish, securing it with her 10th service ace.

Finally, Swiatek closed out the semifinal victory on her third match-point opportunity, responding beautifully by coming from 0-30 down to win the last four points of the match. 

Swiatek won 82 percent (31 of 38) of her first-serve points, hit 15 winners, made 23 unforced errors, converted three of eight break points and outpointed Rybakina 70-54. Rybakina hit 12 winners, committed 41 unforced errors and broke Swiatek just once in four tries.

“It was a tough match. At the beginning the level was pretty crazy,” Swiatek said during her on-court interview. “We played so fast that sometimes we couldn’t even run to the second ball. I was there to play with intensity and good quality, and I’m super happy with the performance. I feel much better. I wouldn’t change anything.”

Paolini powers past unseeded Kudermetova

After knocking out multiple Grand Slam champions Barbora Krejcikova and Coco Gauff in consecutive matches to advance to the semifinal round, could diminutive Italian Jasmine Paolini beat Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova, who advanced to her first WTA Tour semifinal of the season a trio of impressive wins earlier over Belinda Bencic, Clara Tauson and Magda Linette?

As it happened, the answer was yes – but the seventh-seeded Paolini took the scenic route to beat the unseeded Kudermetova, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in two hours and 20 minutes on P&G Center Court.

After Paolini won three straight games from 3-all to close out the 28-minute opening set, she failed to serve out the match, ahead 5-4 in the second set and went on to lose the set in a tiebreaker 7-2. However, Paolini was nothing if not resilient, and once she broke to go ahead 4-2 in the decider, this time, the break advantage held up. She consolidated the break by winning a dramatic 16-point, seventh game after saving three break points for a 5-2 lead. 

Then, after Kudermetova held serve, Paolini closed out the semifinal in strong fashion by winning at love. She got better at the end – and was all smiles as she waved to the crowd after bagging her 33rd victory of the season. 

“I knew I had to keep going,” Paolini said during her on-court interview. “The key was to forget [the second set], I went back and fought and stayed in the present.”

Paolini overcame 35 unforced errors by hitting 15 winners and converted all three of her break-point opportunities and was broken just once. She outpointed Kudermetova 102-83. By comparison, Kudermetova hit 31 winners – including 10 aces – but committed 75 unforced errors.

The win advanced Paolini into her third WTA 1000 final – she’s won her previous two, at Dubai in 2024 and Rome earlier this year – and ninth WTA Tour final overall. She will play Swiatek in Monday evening’s title match, an opponent she’s never beaten in five previous meetings. However, Paolini’s semifinal triumph means she will become the new WTA World No. 8 next week – and that’s something worth cheering about.

Paolini was asked about facing Swiatek in Monday evening’s final. “It’s been really tough against her,” she said. “She’s an amazing player. It’s always tough to play her. She defends really well. Her serving is good as well. It’s going to be tough, but I’m trying to do my best. We are in the final. I like the conditions. So, let’s fight and hopefully it’s going to be a good match.”

Ram and Mektic win men’s doubles title, first as a team

Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Rajeev Ram of the United States wrapped up their dream run at the Cincinnati Open Sunday evening by rallying to defeat Italian duo Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Sonego, 4-6, 6-3, 10-5, in one hour and 30 minutes on P&G Center Court to win the men’s doubles title – their first ATP Masters 1000 title as a pair.

Playing in their first final together as a team – and in just their third tournament together – they will move up 196 spots to No. 25 in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings.

Mektic and Ram combined to win 87 percent (34 of 39) of their first-serve points, converted one of five break-point chances while saving one of two break points, and they outpointed Musetti and Sonego 66-52.

En route to the title, Mektic (36) and Ram (41) upset No. 2 seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool in Saturday’s semifinal round, ending the British duo’s 22-match winning streak. The Croatian/American duo of former World No. 1s, Mektic and Ram improved to 7-3 as a team (6-2 in 2025). They made their team debut in 2018 at Vienna and reunited last month at the DC Open.

During the trophy presentation, a happy Mektic turned to Ram and said: “Tennis, right? Crazy stories. This is our third tournament together, even though we know each other for three decades, probably. Thank you so much, I can’t thank you enough, and it was a pleasure playing this week.”

Added Ram: “We have known each other a really long time. … We’ve played some great matches against each other. It is so nice to have him [Mektic] on my side of the net.”

Mektic joined India’s Rohan Bopanna and his former doubles partner, Mate Pavic of Croatia, as the only active doubles players to reach the finals of all nine ATP Masters 1000 events. Cincinnati was his 11th ATP Masters 1000 title, most among active players. Meanwhile, Ram became the second-oldest men’s doubles champion in Cincinnati during the Open Era, after 42-year-old Daniel Nestor of Canada, who won the 2015 title with Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France.

Dabrowski and Routliffe win women’s doubles title, first WTA 1000 crown

No. 2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand won their sixth career WTA Tour title together with their 6-4, 6-3 victory over unseeded Guo Hanyu of China and Alexandra Panova of Russia, in an hour and 20 minutes on P&G Center Court Sunday evening. 

Dabrowksi and Routliffe combined to hit five aces, won 66 percent (23 of 35) of their first-serve points, converted four of seven break-point opportunities and outpointed their opponents 62-46.

The Cincinnati Open crown is the first WTA 1000 title for the Canada/Kiwi duo and the second WTA Tour title of the season after winning on clay at Stuttgart last April. It’s the second-straight Cincinnati Open title for Routliffe, who won last year with Asia Muhammad of the United States while Dabrowksi was away undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

“Exactly one year ago, I was going through radiation treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville,” Dabrowski said during her trophy speech. “Erin’s best friend, Asia Muhammad stepped in and played this tournament, and they took the title, which was really fun to watch them do from afar. But I feel very fortunate to be able to compete this week and fill some very big shoes.

“It’s been super special to compete here alongside Erin, so thank you very much for coming and for supporting women’s doubles.”

Added Routliffe: “Gaby, we’ve had a rough year. But we’ve stuck together, and I think this title means a lot to both of us. You’ve been sticking with everything despite all you’re going through, and I appreciate it.

“I love you very much and thank you so much.”

Dabrowski, 33, has now won 19 career doubles titles, while Routliffe, 30, has accumulated 11 career doubles titles.

Sunday’s Cincinnati Open results

Monday’s Cincinnati Open order of play

By the numbers

Iga Swiatek‘s victory over Elena Rybakina was her 119th career WTA 1000 win. She’s tied for 11th place all time with Elina Svitolina and behind first-place Victoria Azarenka’s 209.

“Quotable …”

“Oh, I think it’s great on every match. I wouldn’t say today was like different, because I feel the support all the time, and I know that Polish people are coming anywhere I am. So it’s always nice. And honestly, being in Cincinnati is great because the people are so nice, and it’s kind of calm when I’m off the court and I can relax, and people are, even though I know that they recognize me, they’re still like not, not bothering and just supportive. So for sure, I feel the good energy.”

– World No. 3 and third seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, during her post-match news conference Sunday, describing the tournament atmosphere and appreciation of the fans.

 

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