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Cincinnati Open: Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek beats Elena Rybakina to reach final

Iga Swiatek advances to the Cincinnati Open final with victory over Elena Rybakina as preparations for the US Open continue; watch the Cincinnati Open and US Open - from August 24 - live on Sky Sports

Monday 18 August 2025 06:19, UK

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Highlights of the semi-final match between Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek at the Cincinnati Open

Iga Swiatek continued her emphatic form as she beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to reach the Cincinnati Open final on Sunday.

The recently-crowned Wimbledon champion overcame an early first-set deficit with four straight games on her way to securing a hard-fought 7-5 6-3 victory in 98 minutes.

Third-seed Swiatek will now face seventh seed Jasmine Paolini after the Italian's 6-3 6-7 6-3 victory over Veronika Kudermetova in Sunday's second semi-final.

The win means Swiatek becomes the second player to officially clinch her place at the WTA Finals.

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"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," 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."

The ninth-seeded Rybakina impressed in the early stages as she built a 5-3 lead in the opening set in her bid to follow up her victory over world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the previous round.

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But back came a ruthless Swiatek to draw level before breaking Rybakina for a second time to eventually rescue the set.

It was largely one-way traffic from there onwards as Swiatek claimed a swift break for a 3-1 lead, before the Pole fought back from 15-40 down to make it 5-2 and pave the way to victory on serve.

Elsewhere Britain's Sonay Kartal was knocked out in the first round of Tennis in the Land in Cleveland as she suffered a 6-4 4-6 6-7 loss to Solana Sierra of Argentina.

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