Aryna Sabalenka reached the Cincinnati Open final for the first time by toppling Iga Swiatek, clinching an impressive 6-3 6-3 victory over the world number one.

Sabalenka needed one hour and 48 minutes to beat Swiatek and book a final meeting with either Jessica Pegula or Paula Badosa.

The Belarusian entered Saturday's heavyweight clash having lost on all three of her previous semi-final appearances at Cincinnati, falling short of the showpiece match in 2018, 2022 and 2023.

However, she produced a fine performance to end that hoodoo on Sunday, preying on a below-par showing from Swiatek, who won just six of 30 points on her second serve throughout.

Sabalenka made her intentions clear by breaking to love in the second game of the encounter, and though Swiatek hit straight back, another break in the sixth game was enough to hand her the opening set.

Both players were tested on their own serve in the second set, with Sabalenka saving four of five break points faced while converting three of 13 she generated on Swiatek's serve.

Swiatek saved a remarkable 10 match points, eight of them against her own serve, as Sabalenka was forced to clinch her victory the hard way, but a fifth break of the match finally got her over the line.

Sabalenka has now made five WTA Tour-level finals in 2024, the joint-most alongside Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.

Data Debrief: Another big scalp for Sabalenka

Sabalenka's victory was her fourth over a world number one at WTA 1000-level events since the format's 2009 introduction, the joint-most of any player alongside Petra Kvitova.

She has now reached a total of 29 WTA Tour-level finals, the most of any player on the tour since 2017 (Swiatek is second with 26).

Jannik Sinner reached the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open with a hard-fought 4-6 7-5 6-4 victory over Andrey Rublev, avenging last week's defeat to the Russian in Montreal.

Sinner was eliminated from the Canadian Open by Rublev at his last tournament, having missed the Paris Olympic Games due to a bout of tonsillitis.

He fought back from a set down to avoid a repeat in blustery conditions in Ohio on Saturday, having looked to be in trouble when he faced two break points at a set down.

The world number one saved both of those points before recovering from an awkward fall to win a 26-shot rally at 4-4, ultimately serving out the second set at the second opportunity.

Sinner then held off something of a third-set resurgence from Rublev to seal a gruelling two-hour, 25-minute victory, before expressing pride at the way he responded to adversity.

"It took a lot of mental strength today," Sinner said after his win. "It was very tough conditions, very windy. 

"In the first set he started very well and I didn't play my best tennis but in the second set, I felt I had a lot of chances. I waited for my chance. I am very happy to make the semis."

Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka teed up a heavyweight semi-final clash with Iga Swiatek in the women's draw, easing to a 6-3 6-2 victory over Liudmila Samsonova.

Sabalenka needed just one hour and 19 minutes to seal her win, reeling off 10 of the last 13 games to level her all-time head-to-head record with Samsonova at 2-2.

Data Debrief: Sabalenka joins exclusive club

Sabalenka is into her fourth semi-final at the Cincinnati Open, a joint-record at the competition among WTA players in the Open Era.

Jelena Jankovic, Serena Williams and Simona Halep are the only other women to achieve that feat.

Aryna Sabalenka has reached the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals for the fourth time after rallying to a straight-sets victory over Elina Svitolina.

The Belarusian took just 79 minutes to seal the victory, seeing off her opponent 7-5 6-2 on Friday.

Sabalenka made a quick start, earning a break in the first game, but was pushed all the way in the opening set, as Svitolina fought back to tie them level at 5-5.

Another break then set the number three seed up to take the set before she asserted her dominance by winning the final four games in a row to advance to the last eight.

She will face Liudmila Samsonova as she attempts to reach the semi-finals of the tournament for the third straight year.

Data Debrief: Four is the magic number

Only Jelena Jankovic (seven), Simona Halep (six) and Serena Williams (five) have made more quarter-finals than Sabalenka (four) in Cincinnati in the Open Era.

The 26-year-old now boasts 22 career WTA 1000 quarter-finals, tied for most among active players with Karolina Pliskova.

Throughout Friday's match, Sabalenka saved four of the five break points she faced in the match while going 4-for-4 on her own break points against Svitolina's serve.

Iga Swiatek continued her preparations for the US Open in style as she cruised to a straight-sets victory over Marta Kostyuk at the Cincinnati Open. 

The Pole needed just 69 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition, earning a 6-2 6-2 victory after rain delayed the start of play in Ohio. 

Swiatek started the encounter as it meant to go on, earning a break point in the third game which proved decisive as she made her mark on proceedings early on. 

Despite the best efforts of the Ukrainian, the world number one strolled to within a set of victory after winning 73% of her first-serve points. 

Kostyuk simply had no reply to her Polish opponents' dominant service game, finding herself 3-0 down in double quick time in the second. 

Swiatek would drop just six points in the final three games, concluding the encounter with a love game to set up a tie against the winner of Mirra Andreeva and Jasmine Paolini on Saturday. 

Data Debrief: Swiatek replicates winning streak

Since Swiatek’s debut on Tour in 2019, only two players have won 14+ consecutive WTA-1000 main draw matches, those being the Pole herself in 2022 (23, Doha - Toronto) and again this year (14, current streak). 

Only Agnieszka Radwanska (14, between 2012 and 2013) has made more WTA-1000 quarter-finals in consecutive seasons than the Pole in 2023-2024 (13) since the format’s introduction in 2009.

Yulia Putintseva produced an impressive upset, knocking defending champion Coco Gauff out of the Cincinnati Open in the second round.

The 29-year-old rallied over three sets to hold off Gauff's comeback with a 6-4 2-6 6-4 win in just under two hours.

Putintseva immediately set the tone by breaking the American's serve twice in the opening three games, and though Gauff pulled back to level things at 4-4, the Kazakh got another vital break to take the first set.

The world number two came out on a mission in the second though, piecing together a three-game winning streak as she managed to force a decider.

And it looked like Gauff had found her stride when she took a 4-2 lead, but Putintseva won the last four games in a row to turn the tide and set up a meeting with Paula Badosa in the next round.

Data Debrief: Gauff falls short again

After a disappointing Olympic debut, Gauff made an early exit from the Canadian Open, and she has been relegated to another early exit here.

She was looking to become just the second player to win consecutive titles here, but instead, she struggled once again, making nine double faults against a flawless opponent.

Meanwhile, Putintseva is playing her first tournament since Wimbledon, where she knocked out Iga Swiatek en route to the fourth round. Before this year, she had never progressed past the first round in Cincinnati. 

Now, she is only the fourth player in the past four decades ranked outside the WTA's top 20 to claim wins over the top two on multiple surfaces in a season.

Two-time champion Naomi Osaka and fellow former winners Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem and Bianca Andreescu were given wildcards for the upcoming US Open. 

Osaka, who lost in the final round of qualifying for the Cincinnati Open, won the first of her four grand slam titles at Flushing Meadows in 2018, winning again two years later. 

The former world number one returned to the tour this season after giving birth last year, but has struggled to find the form that led her to climb to the top of the rankings. 

The Japanese is now ranked 90th in the WTA rankings, with her best finishes coming in Doha and 's-Hertogenbosch where she reached the quarter-finals in both. 

She will be joined in the women's singles by Canada's Andreescu, who was crowned the US Open champion after her win over Serena Williams in 2019. 

The 24-year-old returned to action this year after missing nine months due to a back injury and reached the French Open third round in her first event back.

Meanwhile, Thiem headlines the wildcards in the men's singles in what will be the final grand slam of his career after confirming he will retire at the end of the season. 

The Austrian won the US Open in 2020 in an epic five-match thriller against Alexander Zverev, but has failed to his best form after sustaining a wrist injury three years ago. 

Also returning thanks to a wildcard is Wawrinka, eight years on from when he claimed the title in New York against Novak Djokovic at Flushing Meadows. 

The 39-year-old's triumph in the United States was the latest of his three career grand slams, having previously prevailed at the Australian Open and French Open. 

Iga Swiatek survived in her return to hard courts at the Cincinnati Open, outlasting Varvara Gracheva in three sets to advance to the third round. 

Swiatek, who was playing in her first match since her bronze medal at the Olympics, was taken to a third-set decider, but emerged as a 6-0 6-7 (8-10) 6-2 victor in Ohio.

“For sure, the transition is probably the hardest, from the slowest surface to the fastest surface,” Swiatek said.

“But that’s why I’m still happy with my performance, and looking forward to another match to kind of still do the grinding and implement what I was working on, but not really focusing on the results.”

The world number one looked set for a comfortable passage to the next round of the competition after winning the first set 6-0, serving three of her seven aces in the opener.

But her French opponent responded, matching Swiatek stride for stride in the second before prevailing in a tie-break to take the encounter the distance. 

However, Swiatek would once again show her dominance, winning the final four games in a row to set up an encounter with Marta Kostyuk, who defeated Lulu Sun in straight sets. 

Data Debrief: Swiatek surpasses yearly triumphs

Despite a third set, Swiatek has claimed 11.2% (27/242) of total sets played by a score of 6-0 in completed WTA 1000 matches - the highest rate of any player (min. 20 sets) since the format's introduction in 2009.

The Pole now has 28 WTA-1000 match wins in 2024, surpassing her own career-high of 27 (2023). Only Serena Williams (36, 2013) has now recorded more WTA-1000 wins in a season, since the format’s introduction in 2009.

Naomi Osaka said she still does not feel like herself eight months into her comeback season following her latest defeat at the Cincinnati Open. 

Osaka was beaten in three sets by Ashlyn Krueger in the second round of qualifying for the event ahead of the final grand slam of the year at the US Open. 

The former world number one also lost in her first match of the Paris Olympics to Angelique Kerber and was beaten in the last 32 of the Canadian Open last week. 

Osaka was left puzzled by her lack of accuracy and power in her most recent loss, explaining her current form is having an affect on her mentally. 

"My biggest issue currently isn't losses though, my biggest issue is that I don't feel like I'm in my body," Osaka wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.

"It's a strange feeling, missing balls I shouldn't miss, hitting balls softer than I remember I used to.

"I try to tell myself, 'It's fine you're doing great. Just get through this one and keep pushing', mentally it's really draining through.

"Internally, I hear myself screaming, 'What the hell is happening?!?!'"

Osaka returned to action in January after a 15-month break during which she gave birth to her daughter. 

The Japanese is now ranked 90th in the WTA rankings, with her best finishes coming in Doha and 's-Hertogenbosch where she reached the quarter-finals in both. 

"I've played a handful of matches this year that I felt like I was myself and I know this moment is probably just a small phase from all the new transitions (clay, grass, clay, hard), however the only feeling I could liken how I feel right now to is being post-partum," Osaka said.

"That scares me because I've been playing tennis since I was three, the racket should feel like an extension of my hand."

Osaka's next event will be at Flushing Meadows, a stadium where she triumphed in 2018 and 2020, but added she did not understand why everything about her game felt brand new again. 

"This should be as simple as breathing to me, but it's not," she added. "I genuinely did not give myself grace for that fact until just now."

Iga Swiatek has measured her expectations ahead of the Cincinnati Open this week, with the top-ranked seed placing full focus on the US Open later this month. 

Swiatek, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics, returns to the hardcourt surface for the first time since the Miami Open back in March. 

The Pole has since won three titles on clay in Madrid, Rome and the French Open, before losing to Yulia Putintseva in the third round on the grass courts of Wimbledon. 

She returned to Roland-Garros with her eyes set on Olympic gold, but settled for a third place finish after beating Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in her bronze medal match.

However, Swiatek, who plays Ajla Tomljanovic or Varvara Gracheva in the second round this week, acknowledged how difficult the transition will be. 

"I know that the first tournament on hardcourts isn't going to be easy," said Swiatek. 

"So I'm going to try to treat it as a practice tournament, but not in a way that I don't care - more in a way that I want to implement all the stuff that I practiced on.

"I think it's the best approach for me now."

The US Open offers an opportunity for Swiatek to claim a second title Stateside, with the possibility of taking her grand slam total to six. 

But with Cincinnati first up, the Pole said that the Lindner Family Tennis Center is the perfect platform to build to the tournament in New York later this month. 

"I felt after the Olympics I need to reset and also focus on getting my technique back together and just grinding on court," Swiatek said.

"Here's the perfect place to do it. It feels a little bit less crazy, but on the other hand, even before the tournament, there are many people and a lot of fans.

"So you still feel it's an important tournament."

Iga Swiatek has measured her expectations ahead of the Cincinnati Open this week, with the top-ranked seed placing full focus on the US Open later this month. 

Swiatek, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics earlier this month, returns to the hardcourt surface for the first time since the Miami Open back in March. 

The Pole has since won three titles on clay in Madrid, Rome and the French Open, before losing to Yulia Putintseva in the third round on the grass courts of Wimbledon. 

She returned to Roland-Garros with her eyes set on gold, but settled for a third place finish after beating Anna Karolína Schmiedlova in her bronze medal match.

However, Swiatek, who plays Ajla Tomljanovic or Varvara Gracheva in the second round this week, acknowledged how difficult the transition will be. 

"I know that the first tournament on hardcourts isn't going to be easy," said Swiatek. 

"So I'm going to try to treat it as a practice tournament, but not in a way that I don't care - more in a way that I want to implement all the stuff that I practiced on.

"I think it's the best approach for me now."

The US Open offers an opportunity for Swiatek to claim a second title Stateside, with the possibility of taking her grand slam total to six. 

But with Cincinnati first up, the Pole said that the Lindner Family Tennis Center is the perfect platform to build to the tournament in New York later this month. 

"I felt after the Olympics I need to reset and also focus on getting my technique back together and just grinding on court," Swiatek said.

"Here's the perfect place to do it. It feels a little bit less crazy, but on the other hand, even before the tournament, there are many people and a lot of fans.

"So you still feel it's an important tournament."

Jessica Pegula reflected on a “really special” win at the Canadian Open in Toronto, after defeating fellow American Amanda Anisimova in the final.

The victory marked Pegula’s second straight Canadian Open title, as she fended off an Anisimova comeback to win 6-3 2-6 6-1.

The 30-year-old, who was seeded third, has become just the seventh player in the Open Era to defend her Canadian Open title, the most recent having been Martina Hingis in 2000.

Pegula, who hails from Buffalo, New York, enjoyed her achievement all the more for the presence of family and friends.

"Toronto, it's nice, it's so close to Buffalo, I had a lot of friends, family, and my grandparents, my husband was able to come today. That's cool, I don't really get that at a lot of tournaments,” said Pegula.

"Then to be able to win the tournament as well, and to be able to share that moment with them is really special.

“I don't know what it is about Canada, but I just seem to do well. Yeah, I'll take it.”

The victory means Pegula has become the first woman to win 10 consecutive singles matches at the Canadian Open since Serena Williams. The 23-time grand slam winner triumphed in 14 straight matches between 2011 and 2014.

"I know everyone's talking about my record, but it's nice to be able to get through the week and to back it up," said Pegula. "So, just super excited, I mean, an honour, really.”

It took Pegula one hour and 27 minutes to defeat Anisimova and win her sixth WTA singles title. It also marked her third career WTA 1000 title (Guadalajara 2022, Montreal 2023 and Toronto 2024).

It was Anisimova's first Tour-level final in over two years, with the 22-year-old having defeated four top-20 players on her way there.

"I put the work in, I kept my head down, and I tried to come back to the sport with more of a relaxed feeling," Anisimova reflected.

"Trying to enjoy each day as it comes and not being so serious about everything, because that takes away the joy from a lot of things. That approach to my everyday life has helped me a lot."

Jessica Pegula successfully defended her Canadian Open crown by beating Amanda Anisimova in Monday's final.

Pegula, who was seeded third, prevailed 6-3 2-6 6-1 against her fellow American in Toronto.

The 30-year-old ended Anisimova's hopes of a shock title, and a fifth top-20 win of the tournament.

Pegula was on fire in the opening set, dominating on her serve, but Anisimova responded with a swift break in the second as she rallied to draw the match.

Yet two breaks in quick succession put Pegula firmly on top in the decider, and though Anisimova clawed back two match points, her opponent got the job done at the third time of asking.

Pegula has now won six Tour-level titles, with three of these being WTA 1000 events (Guadalajara 2022, Montreal 2023 and Toronto 2024).

Data Debrief: Pegula's Canadian comforts

Hailing from Buffalo, just south of the border, Pegula has certainly enjoyed a fine run in Canada over the past two years. 

She is only the second player this century to secure the title at the Canadian Open in both Toronto and Montreal, along with Simona Halep, while she became the seventh player in the Open Era to defend her title at the Canadian Open after Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Martina Navratilova, Regina Marsikova, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis.

No player had successfully defended a WTA 1000 title since Iga Swiatek did so at Rome in 2022, and no player had done so on hard court since Ashleigh Barty, who defended her Miami crown in 2021.

Coco Gauff followed up Olympic disappointment with an early Canadian Open exit after being stunned by Diana Shnaider in Toronto.

World number two Gauff suffered early eliminations at the Paris Olympics last week after falling in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

The number one seed was then downed 6-4 6-1 by her fellow 20-year-old, who secured the first top-10 win of her career to seal a maiden appearance in the quarter-finals of an ATP 1000 event.

"Sometimes I question like whether I should have played or not," Gauff said, "But at the end of the day I wanted to test myself and see if I would be able to, how I would do being mentally tired a little bit and physically fatigued.

"I said going into the tournament I didn't have high expectations, but I wish I could have competed better today, even if it resulted in a loss. I don't think I competed well."

Shnaider is a remarkable 39-14 across all professional matches for the year, winning three titles in Hua Hin, Thailand (hard) in February, Bad Homburg (grass) in June and Budapest (clay) in July.

"I know Coco is very physically prepared for everyone on tour, and she's running very well, she's covering all of the balls and all the angles on the court," Shnaider said.

"So when there were long rallies and I was winning them I was like, 'Wow, I just beat Coco in long rallies. I am good'. I mean, I tried to play it cool, but inside I was like, 'Yes! I made it!'"

Meanwhile, third seed Aryna Sabalenka eased past British number one Katie Boulter for a routine 6-3 6-3 triumph in Canada.

Sabalenka will next face Amanda Anisimova, one of five Americans in the last eight alongside defending champion Jessica Pegula, Peyton Stearns, Emma Navarro and Taylor Townsend.

Since the beginning of 2020, Sabalenka has reached 17 WTA 1000 quarter-finals, a feat only matched by world number one Iga Swiatek for the most at WTA 1000 events in that time.

Naomi Osaka crashed out of the Canadian Open with a straight-sets defeat to Elise Mertens in the second round on Thursday.

The Belgian held her nerve for her second win over Osaka this year, beating her 6-3 6-4 in Toronto to set up a meeting with Liudmila Samsonova in the round of 16.

Osaka was caught out by making errors from the baseline and failed to gain any momentum as her preparation for the US Open took a hit with her early exit.

Despite the defeat, the former world number one remained upbeat about her performance as she looks to build on this result.

"I feel like I could have put a bit more on the court, a bit more from the baseline shots," Osaka said. "I got a bit caught up in the idea of being consistent and staying in the exchanges, I don't know.

"I'm happy with how I fought despite not winning, but I feel like I learned a lot.

"Unfortunately, I have always suffered a lot from my perfectionism, and I also tend to doubt myself a lot, but I think it's necessary to go through this process and have tough losses from which you can learn a lot about yourself.

"I know there will be many tough defeats like this one, but hopefully, I hope to be back in the top ten soon." 

Data Debrief: Fight fizzles out

Osaka struggled to gain a foothold in the match, losing her serve four times while only earning two breaks in return. 

She won just 37% of her second serve points (10/27) and failed to win more than two games in a row as Mertens edged out of her reach. 

Coco Gauff continued her preparations for the defence of her US Open title by reaching the next round of the Canadian Open, beating China's Yafan Wang in straight sets.

Gauff needed just under an hour and a half to get the job done in Toronto, emerging a 6-4 6-4 victor to bounce back from her disappointment at the Paris Olympics. 

The world number two started shakily, saving three break points in the third game before converting a break of her own to lead 3-1 in the opening exchanges. 

Wang would fight back, however, winning the next three games on the bounce, but the American would rally to take the first set. 

It looked as though Gauff would cruise to victory after taking a three-game lead, but her Chinese opponent would show her powers of recovery once more, levelling the encounter soon after. 

The pair would trade blows for the remainder, with Gauff proving too strong for Yang late on, claiming the triumph with a love game on serve. 

Gauff will face Diana Shnaider for a place in the quarter-finals following the Russian's triumph over Magdalena Frech earlier in the day. 

Data Debrief: Gauff fights off spirited Wang

While Gauff was far from her best in Toronto, she adjusted well to the hard surface having competed on the clay courts of Roland-Garros at the Olympics. 

The American impressed on serve, registering six aces throughout the contest while also winning 65% of her first-serve points.