(Los Angeles) Top seeds and world No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek both lost their first sets before turning things around and qualifying for the semi-finals of the Cincinnati tournament on Saturday, which combines the ATP and WTA circuits, ahead of the US Open.
Sinner beat No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia in three sets 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals of the Masters 1000, while Swiatek did the same in the women’s draw of the WTA 1000 tournament, eliminating No. 24 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Sinner was playing only his second match of the week after being given a bye in the first round and benefiting from a forfeit on Friday, his 23rd day.e birthday.
The Italian, whose fitness has been compromised in recent months by recurring hip pain and tonsillitis that forced him to miss the Paris Olympics, lost the first set after being broken twice but held on against Rublev, who had beaten him last week in the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 in Montreal.
“It took a lot of mental strength today,” said the winner. “The conditions were difficult, very, very windy.”
“In the first set I didn’t play my best tennis, in the second I improved and was able to wait for my chances. […] “I’m happy to have won today,” Sinner added.
In the semi-finals he will face German Alexander Zverev (No. 4), who beat American Ben Shelton (No. 14) 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.
Swiatek gets away with it
In the women’s draw, Swiatek, also 23, had to battle for 2 hours 40 minutes against the young Andreeva, 17, who broke early in the match to lead 2-1, before saving four break points to win the first set.
But Swiatek fought back in the second set by breaking at 2-0, an advantage she maintained throughout the set. In the third set, Swiatek managed to break in the last minute to lead 6-5 and then close out the set.
PHOTO SUSAN MULLANE, USA TODAY SPORTS
Iga Swiatek
“She’s 17, but I feel like we were playing at the same level,” Swiatek said. “It was a close match. Every point counts in the end. It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure.”
Swiatek will meet Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (N.3) in the semi-final, who defeated Russian Liudmila Samsonova (N.17), 6-3, 6-2.
“I’m very happy to have won in two sets. It wasn’t as easy as it looks from a score point of view. It was a tough match,” said Sabalenka, who is reaching her fourth semi-final in Cincinnati, her third in a row.
She will succeed American Coco Gauff in second place in the WTA rankings before the start of the US Open on August 26.
In the other half of the women’s draw, American Jessica Pegula (No. 6) beat Canadian Leylah Fernandez (No. 26) in three sets 7-5, 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-3).
The recent winner of the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto will face Spaniard Paula Badosa (No. 36) in the semi-finals, who eliminated Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (No. 28) 6-3, 6-2.
In the men’s competition, the Dane Holger Rune (No. 16) beat the Briton Jack Draper (No. 28) 6-4, 6-2, and will face the American Frances Tiafoe (No. 27) in the semi-finals, who benefited from the withdrawal of the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (No. 7).