Cincinnati – No. 3 Iga Swiatek won the Cincinnati open title on Monday night, beating No. 7 Jasmine Paolini 7-5, 6-4.
Swiatek won all six meetings against the Italians and dropped only one set in those matches.
Paolini jumped for a 3-0 lead in the first set, but Swiatek went 5-3 to Roawe. Paolini defeated serves to score 5-5, but Swiatek concluded his first set victory in 56 minutes.
The eighth ace of Swiatek’s match gave a 5-3 lead in the second set. Paolini was within 5-4, beating two serves in two sets, but Swiatek was able to put out matches for his 24th career single title and his 11th title in the WTA 1000 event, beating his tie against Victoria Azarenka (10) with the second 1000 level title since the introduction of the level in 2009 (Serena Williams, 13).
Swiatek, who won Wimbledon in July, failed to advance past the semifinals in six previous appearances at the Cincinnati Open. Swiatek has reached the semi-finals at Cincinnati for the last two years, but lost to final champion Cocogoff in 2023 and Alina Sabalenka in 2024.
Paolini is the first Italian woman to reach the final in Cincinnati. As she was qualifying for the Cincinnati Open in 2023, Paolini reached two finals of the Grand Slam Singles, winning the Grand Slam Doubles title and the Olympic gold medal.
The Cincinnati Open is considered a tune-up for the US Open, which begins Sunday in New York. Over the past two years, both the men’s and women’s Cincinnati Open champions have won the final Grand Slam Tournament of the Year.
Carlos Alcaraz won the men’s final early Monday, when Janik Sinner retired due to illness in the first set.
ESPN research and Associated Press contributed to this report.
