After a long title drought that spanned over a full year, Iga Swiatek is back to dominating like tennis fans are used to seeing. After the 24-year old collected her sixth Grand Slam title with a phenomenal performance to win Wimbledon last month, she has now won her 11th WTA 1000 title at the Cincinnati Open.
After knocking off Elena Rybakina in the semifinals, Swiatek defeated Italian Jasmine Paolini in a close straight-set final, 7-5 6-4.
With that victory, Swiatek improves to 6-0 all-time against Paolini, dropping just one set in the process. Of course, the two contested a major final at Roland Garros in 2024, with the Polish superstar winning 6-2, 6-1.
Cincinnati, a fast hard court, was thought to be one of the most difficult surfaces for Swiatek to play on due to her western forehand grip and her tendency to hug the baseline while refusing to give up court position. That court position combined with her occasionally attackable serve puts her at a disadvantage in the serve-return dynamic on faster courts.
Świątek reversed that trend at Wimbledon, and did so in Cincinnati as well. After the match, she was just as surprised as many watching.
“I don’t know why I win the tournaments that were like the last ones in terms of what I thought they were going to be,” Swiatek said at the trophy presentation, in quotes shared by the WTA. “So, thank you [to my team] for forcing me to become a better player and learn how to play on all these faster surfaces.
“I’m kind of shocked and super happy, so thank you for the awesome support, to the team and to my family back home.”
Swiatek is now up to 18 big titles in total, adding her 11 WTA 1000 trophies to her six majors and one victory at the WTA Finals. She has won seven of the 10 different WTA 1000 tournaments after adding Cincinnati to her collection, and is now only missing victories in Wuhan, Canada and Dubai to complete the full collection.
This victory also gets Swiatek back to No. 2 in the world, ensuring that she will avoid top seed Aryna Sabalenka until the final of the U.S. Open if the two of them were to both make it that far. She passes American Coco Gauff, who drops to No. 3.
Swiatek made it to New York just in time for the U.S. Open mixed doubles on Tuesday morning, where she played her first match about 16 hours after finishing the final in Cincinnati. She and Casper Ruud are into the semifinals after winning a pair of matches on Tuesday, and Swiatek will look to keep the winning streak going into the main draw starting on Aug. 24.
