By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Sunday, August 18, 2024
Aryna Sabalenka broke serve five times and converted her 10th match point sweeping world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-3, 6-3 for her first Cincinnati final.
Photo credit: Robert Prange/Getty
The blue court was a blueprint for Aryna Sabalenka’s continuing championship construction.
Today, an explosive Sabalenka was a demolition expert blowing world No. 1 Iga Swiatek away.
More: 2024 US Open New Policies
A swarming Sabalenka demolished Swiatek 6-3, 6-3 storming into her first career Cincinnati Open final with a commanding performance.
Rushing the Roland Garros champion into forehand errors, Sabalenka surged to a 6-3, 5-1 lead.
Credit Swiatek for saving nine match points to extend the match before Sabalenka smoked a backhand to convert her 10th match point.
On this day Sabalenka simply overpowered the woman who carried a 25-3 hard-court record in 2024 onto court. Sabalenka snapped Swiatek's 15-match WTA 1000 winning streak to power into her fifth final of the year, including her third hard-court final of the season.
“I would say definitely with every match I played I was building my level and really happy to see myself at such a high level,” Sabalenka told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj afterward. “I’m just super happy with the win today.”
It is Sabalenka’s fourth career win in 12 career clashes with Swiatek and the most lopsided victory she’s posted in their rivalry.
Sabalenka shattered Swiatek’s serve breaking in five of the Pole’s nine service games and winning 24 of 30 points played on Swiatek’s second serve. The top seed did not win a second-serve point in the first set.
“Honestly nothing [was going through my mind],” Sabalenka told Prakas Amritraj afterward. “There is zero thoughts. Only about tennis, only about the next ball coming, just hitting just trying to make the right decisions.
“There is nothing in your head you’re just in the zone, you know. I wish it would be like this every day.”
It’s a massive win for 2023 US Open finalist Sabalenka, who will face either good friend Pajula Badosa or two-time Canadian Open champion Jessica Pegula in tomorrow’s Cincinnati final. Sabalenka will rise to world No. 2 when the new WTA rankings are released on Monday. That will put her on the opposite half of the US Open draw from Swiatek.
"This win definitely gives me a lot of confidence going into the US Open of course," Sabalenka said. "I mean one more time it’s already in the past.
"I’m really happy with the win of course that was a brilliant performance from me. I just want to focus on staying in the moment and focus on bringing my best tennis every time on court. Stay calm and confident and aggressive on court."
Questions swirl around 2022 US Open champion Swiatek.
Coming off a 2023 Flushing Meadows fourth-round loss to Jelena Ostapenko, Swiatek will try to regain her confidence, recalibrate her serve and reset her game ahead of the US Open, where she’s griped about both the surface speed and the Wilson US Open ball in the past.
The good news for Swiatek is she has eight days ahead of US Open opening day to try to rest and recover from this thrashing.
Setting an assertive tone, Sabalenka shredded a forehand strike down the line completing a love break for a 2-0 lead.
The top seed came right back, belting a backhand winner and forcing a wild forehand to break back in the third game.
Still, Swiatek was unsettled on serve. Swiatek wasn’t consistently landing her first serve and Sabalenka was pounding the Pole’s second serve. Sabalenka clubbed a forehand return breaking again for 4-2.
As an ominous cluster of clouds loomed overhead, Sabalenka backed up the break at 30 stretching her lead to 5-2.
Serving for the set, Sabalenka slammed down her second love hold zapping a backhand winner down the line for a one-set lead after 33 minutes.
It was the seventh straight Sabalenka, who swept Liudmila Samsonova in the quarterfinals, won in the tournament.
A sharp Sabalenka won eight of 13 second-serve points; Swiatek was 0 for 7 on second serve points in the set.
Continuing her habit of leaving the court after losing the opening set, Swiatek returned to face some spitting rain. Still, she held to start the second set.
Three games into the second set, Sabalenka scored her third break when Swiatek pasted a forehand into the net. The Belarusian went up 2-1—part of a five-game surge that saw her batter Swiatek’s second serve and seize a commanding lead.
A free-flowing Sabalenka slammed an ace then cracked an 88 mph diagonal forehand extending her lead to 5-1.
The four-time Grand Slam champion fended off six match points in the seventh game. The challenge for Swiatek was trying to win a second-serve point. Sabalenka hammered a backhand return for a seventh match point only to see the top seed save it.
Fighting through a highly-charged 12-minute hold, Swiatek narrowed the gap to 2-5 and forced Sabalenka to serve it out.
That stand sparked Swiatek, who earned double break point in the eighth game. Sabalenka rattled out errors from the Swiatek forehand to save both break points and earn an eighth match point. The Belarusian was off her back foot when she pasted a forehand into net.
Smacking a bold 104 mph second serve off the line, Sabalenka gained match point No. 9, but missed a running forehand to drop back to deuce.
Banging the body serve, Sabalenka saved a second break point for a fourth deuce. Stress caught up to Sabalenka, who showed the jitters hitting her first double fault of the day into net surrendering serve as Swiatek closed to 3-5.
“That was definitely the toughest moment of the match," Sabalenka said. "I just keep telling myself: ‘Come on, she’s world No. 1, she’s going to keep fighting, keep trying her best and you gotta stay aggressive, you gotta put her under pressure and you gotta play your tennis. Just trust your instincts and go for it.’
"That’s my mentality in those tough moments.”
When the world No. 1 scattered a crosscourt backhand wide, Sabalenka snatched a 10th match point.
Reading the wide serve, Sabalenka banged a backhand return winner crosscourt hitting her way into her first Cincinnati final in one hour, 47 minutes.