Swiatek arrived in Cincinnati in style after winning a bronze medal in singles at the Paris Olympics. She beat Irina-Camelia Begu, Diane Perry, Wang Xinyu, Danielle Collins and Anna Karolina Schmidlova along the way. In Cincinnati, Swiatek opened with a 6-0, 6-7(8), 6-2 win over Varvara Gracheva. She then posted a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory over 15th-seeded Marta Kostyuk and won 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 against Mirra Andreeva to reach the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Sabalenka returned to action after a shoulder injury forced her to withdraw from Wimbledon and the Citi Open. She reached the semifinals, but lost to Marie Bouzkova. The Belarusian also reached the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open, where she was eliminated by eventual finalist Amanda Anisimova.
Sabalenka opened the Cincinnati Open with a convincing 6-3, 6-4 win over Elisabetta Cocharetto in the second round. She then beat Elina Svitolina 7-5, 6-2 and 10th seed Lyudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2.
Swiatek and Sabalenka have met 11 times on the WTA Tour, with Iga holding an 8-3 advantage in head-to-head matches. Their last meeting came at this year’s Italian Open, where the Pole beat the Belarusian 6-2, 6-3 in the final.
Forecast for the match Iga Swiatek – Aryna Sabalenka
Swiatek will enter the match as the favorite after her impressive performances this year, including winning streaks at the Qatar Open, Indian Wells Open, Madrid Open, Rome Open and Roland Garros. She is in great form and has a good chance of leaving Cincinnati with her sixth title of the season. Sabalenka has also had a good season, but not as strong as her opponent. Her only title came at the Australian Open, but she has reached the finals and semifinals of several other majors.
Swiatek’s dominant head-to-head record with Sabalenka and the latter’s recent injury problems could give the Polish player the edge she needs to win and face Paula Badosa or Jessica Pegula in the 2024 Cincinnati Open final. But Sabalenka is capable of coming back from a set down.
Prediction: Iga Swiatek will win in three sets.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev, Athletistic
Source: Sport
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