Swiatek, Sabalenka to duel in Cincinnati semifinals

World No.1 Iga Swiatek will play World No.3 Arnya Sabalenka in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open after the Grand Slam champions both won their quarterfinal matches in contrasting fashion on Saturday.

Swiatek advanced to the final four at the Lindner Family Tennis Center for the second year in a row after coming from behind to defeat 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in Saturday's first quarterfinal, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, before Sabalenka eased to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Liudmila Samsonova to set the 12th installment of her and Swiatek's all-time rivalry. 

Swiatek has won eight of her 11 prior matches against Sabalenka, including both matches this year in the finals of Madrid and Rome. They last played on hard courts in the semifinals of the WTA Finals -- also won by Swiatek -- but haven't played at a hard-court tournament that isn't the season-ending championships since they dueled in the semifinals of the 2022 US Open, which Swiatek also won from a set down.

Cincinnati: Scores | Draws | Order of Play

Swiatek denies Andreeva another milestone

The fourth player younger than 18 to ever reach a WTA 1000-level quarterfinal since the tournament tier debuted in 2009, Andreeva raced out of the gates quickly in her first-ever meeting with the World No.1 -- showing no nerves nor frustration in windy conditions. She broke serve at 1-1 and kept her lead throughout the first set, saving two break points in both the sixth game and 10th game. 

Forced to raise her level, Swiatek responded: She broke in Andreeva's first service game of the second set, and didn't face a break point herself until the match's final game. Given an opportunity to level the final set at 6-6 and force a winner-take-all tiebreak, Andreeva's backhand return missed well long -- and Swiatek wrapped up the 2-hour, 30-minute win two points later.

Swiatek is now 10-0 in quarterfinal matches in 2024 -- and the win was her 30th at a WTA 1000 this season. Only Serena Williams (36, 2013) has won more matches at that level in a single season in the last 15 years.

Sabalenka seals semifinal hat trick

While Swiatek battled, Sabalenka cruised in 1 hour and 19 minutes -- leveling her all-time head-to-head with Samsonova at 2-2 in the process.

From 2-2 in the first set, Sabalenka won 10 of the last 13 games -- including three in a row in the middle of the first set, and five from 5-3 to 6-3, 4-0.