WTA Cincinnati: Swiatek secures her fourth consecutive victory over Rybakina and will face Paolini in the final.

On August 18, Beijing time, the lineup for the WTA 1000 Cincinnati women's singles final was set, with top 10 players Swiatek and Paolini meeting in the final. In the first semifinal, third seed Swiatek defeated ninth seed Rybakina with a score of 7-5, 6-3, reaching the final for the first time without dropping a set, marking her 13th appearance in a 1000 event final in her career.

Swiatek

Swiatek has reached the women's singles semifinals in Cincinnati for three consecutive years, and this year she has finally advanced to the title match, becoming the second player, after Sabalenka, to secure a spot in the WTA Finals for the year, marking her fifth consecutive qualification for this event.

In the high-stakes showdown against Rybakina, Swiatek found herself trailing 3-5 in the first set, but she won 11 out of the next 13 games to emerge victorious in this Grand Slam champion matchup, achieving her fourth consecutive win over Rybakina and improving their head-to-head record to 6 wins and 4 losses. In a post-match interview, Swiatek stated, "It was definitely a tough match; the intensity at the start was incredibly high. I was just trying to hold on until Elena (Rybakina) made some mistakes. I’m glad I managed to withstand the pressure and maintained a high level of intensity and quality."

Paolini

In the second women's singles semifinal, seventh seed Paolini battled through three sets against Kudermetova, ultimately winning 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3. This marks her third career appearance in a 1000 event final, having previously won titles at the 2024 Dubai and 2025 Rome events. Swiatek and Paolini will meet for the sixth time in Cincinnati, with all five previous encounters resulting in victories for the Polish player, and Paolini having only taken one set from Swiatek.

Panova/Gao Hanyu claim women's doubles runner-up.

The women's doubles final took place in the main stadium, where the Chinese duo of Gao Hanyu and Panova lost to the second seeds Dabrowski/Lu in a score of 4-6, 3-6, finishing as runners-up. This marks their first appearance in a 1000 event final.

Tomorrow, the men's and women's singles finals will be held, with the ultimate showdown between the top two seeds, Sinner and Alcaraz, starting at 3 AM Beijing time. The women's singles final between Swiatek and Paolini will begin no earlier than 6 AM.

(Written and edited by Wang Fei, Photos by Visual China)