Cincinnati Open | Swiatek downs Rybakina, faces Paolini in women’s final

A ruthless Iga Swiatek won 10 of the last 13 games to beat Elena Rybakina 7-5 6-3 on Sunday and reach her first Cincinnati Open final after losing in the penultimate stage of the U.S. Open tune-up event in each of the last two years.

In the other semi-final, Italy’s Jasmine Paolini was a 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3 winner over unseeded Russian Veronika Kudermetova.

Third seed Swiatek had her hands full in the early stages of the 98-minute match but took advantage of a sudden dip in Rybakina’s form to win four consecutive games and wrap up the first set before easing through the second.

“That was a tough match. At the beginning the level was pretty crazy, we played so fast that sometimes we couldn’t even run to the second ball because we played so fast,” Swiatek said during her on-court interview.

“But I was there to play with intensity and good quality and I am super happy with the performance. I served much better so for sure it helped and I wouldn’t change anything.”

Ninth seed Rybakina used a cross-court forehand that caught the line for a break and then held for a 5-3 lead in the first set but a laser-focused Swiatek came back from the precipice and attacked the Kazakh’s serve to draw level at 5-5.

From there, the Wimbledon champion held serve before wrapping up the opener when she broke for a second time after a Rybakina backhand attempt came up well short.

Rybakina, who enjoyed a swift victory over world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the previous round, was broken for a third time early in the second set after a backhand error put Swiatek ahead 3-1.

Swiatek faced some push-back from Rybakina three games later but dug deep to recover from 15-40 down to protect her serve and reach 5-2 before wrapping it up on serve when Rybakina sent a forehand return long.

Six-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who has not lost a set in Cincinnati, will enter the final looking to improve her head-to-head record against Paolini to 6-0 in their first match since the Bad Homburg Open semi-final in June.

Paolini made a strong start but Russian Kudermetova stormed back from 5-3 down in the second to force a decider in which the Italian seventh seed went on to close it out with a love hold.

“I said to myself after losing the tiebreak that I have to step back on court, be in the present and don’t think about what happened,” said Paolini. “I did my best and it did not work in the second set but you have to keep going.

“And that was the key, to forget and go back and fight and stay in the present.” (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)