Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek – the world’s top-ranked players in men’s and women’s tennis – both had to battle back from a set down to reach the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open.
Sinner overcame brutally windy conditions to earn a hard-fought 4-6 7-5 6-4 win over sixth seed Andrey Rublev, the Italian earning revenge for a quarter-final defeat to Rublev at the Canadian Open last week.
Sinner crucially saved two break points on serve when trailing 4-3 in the second set, while he also fended off a mini revival from Rublev in the decider after having twice been up by two breaks of serve.
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Jannik Sinner produced this magnificent winning point during his quarter-final match at the Cincinnati Open
The reigning Australian Open champion will face either Alexander Zverev or Ben Shelton for a place in the final.
In the women’s singles, Swiatek saw off a spirited performance from 17-year-old starlet Mirra Andreeva, despite having dropped the first set 6-4.
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Highlights of the quarter-final match between Iga Swiatek and Mirra Andreeva at the Cincinnati Open
The Pole missed out on four break-back opportunities, including two when Andreeva was serving for the set.
The teenager was, however, immediately broken to start the second set as Swiatek levelled the match and forced a decider.
With the contest deadlocked at 5-5 in the final set, Swiatek earned then what appeared to be the crucial break.
But back came Andreeva, earning a break-point chance in the very next game that would have forced a deciding tie-break, only for Swiatek to hold firm and clinch a hard-fought victory three points later.
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Iga Swiatek says they play too many tournaments in the season and it makes her enjoy the sport less
“She’s playing and behaving like she’s older,” five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek said of Andreeva. “We were playing even, at a similar level, so it was really tight and every point mattered at the end. .
“I’m happy that I just played solid. It wasn’t easy, for sure.”
Swiatek will next face soon-to-be world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals following her comfortable 6-3 6-2 victory over Liudmila Samsonova.
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Highlights of the quarter-final match between Aryna Sabalenka and Liudmila Samsonova at the Cincinnati Open
Sabalenka is seeded third for the tournament, but is set to leapfrog Cincinnati defending champion Coco Gauff in the women’s rakings after her disappointing second-round exit.
American sixth seed Jessica Pegula also booked her place in the final four with a 7-5 6-7 (1-7) 7-6 (7-3) over Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, who had knocked out fourth seed Elena Rybakina earlier in the tournament.
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- Winston-Salem Open (ATP 250) – 18-24 August
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