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Swiatek and Krejcikova reach Ostrava final, Cornet and Mertens to do battle in Jasmin Open

By Sports Desk October 08, 2022

World number one Iga Swiatek will face Barbora Krejcikova in the Ostrava Open final after beating Ekaterina Alexandrova on Saturday.

Swiatek continued her stellar season with a 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-4 victory over the Russian.

A tie-break was needed to settle the opening set, with Swiatek securing a crucial break of serve when 6-5 up.

The Pole was caught off guard in the second set as Alexandrova took it the distance, before Swiatek claimed the solitary break of the decider to lead 4-3 and did not allow her opponent a way back.

Swiatek, who has 60 wins to her name in 2022, will do battle with Krejcikova in the championship match after she came from a set down to defeat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.

Rybakina served 17 aces to Krejciokva's two, but the Czech 26-year-old battled to victory to put herself in the final of her home tournament.

At the Jasmin Open, Alize Cornet knocked out second seed Veronika Kudermetova with a 6-4 6-3 triumph to clinch her place in Sunday's final.

Cornet saved nine of 11 break points to beat the world number 12 and has not dropped a set all week at the tournament in Tunisia.

Elise Mertens awaits Cornet in the final after a 6-4 6-0 success over Claire Liu, who knocked out top seed Ons Jabeur on Friday.

Mertens broke Liu at 5-4 up to take the first set before emphatically sealing victory with a sublime second in which she won 24 of the 29 points.

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    The men's draw at Flushing Meadows has been blown wide open by early exits for Alcaraz and Djokovic, but the top seed remains in the hunt after a composed performance.

    He reached the fourth round for a fourth consecutive year with a routine 6-1 6-4 6-2 victory, setting the tone with several huge groundstrokes in the opening set.

    O'Connell never looked likely to fight back as Sinner smashed 46 winners in a ruthless performance, wrapping up his win in one hour and 56 minutes.

    The Australian Open champion will face either Tommy Paul or Gabriel Diallo for a place in the last eight, and he was relieved to survive an opening week full of surprises.

    "Everything can happen in this sport, so I try to stay on my side of the net and I'm trying to take the tournament day by day," Sinner said in his on-court interview after the win. 

    "Each opponent is a very tough challenge and [I am] also enjoying every moment on the court. There have been already a couple of upsets, so let's see what's coming.

    "But I'm very happy to still be here and hopefully I can play as many matches as possible. But as I said, we go day by day and then we'll see how it goes."

    Data Debrief: Sinner heating up

    Sinner lost his first set of the tournament to Mackenzie McDonald but has been largely untouchable since then.

    He has only lost 18 games across his last nine sets of tennis, an average of two per set.

    The Italian's winning streak now stands at seven straight matches, meanwhile, following his triumphant Cincinnati Open run.

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