Iga Swiatek is through to the final of the Cincinnati Open after overcoming Elena Rybakina 7-5 6-3 on Sunday (August 17).
The world no. 3 showed plenty of fight and determination to make it past her Kazakh opponent as the latter was up 5-3 in the opening set of the semi-final battle.
However, the reigning Wimbledon champion was able to string together four straight winning games to take the first set.
Swiatek took control of the second set when she broke Rybakina in the fourth game, before the 24-year-old held off two break points in the seventh game to keep her lead.
There were two match point opportunities in the following game when Rybakina was serving for Swiatek to close out the contest but the Kazakh managed to hold on.
Swiatek took the next available match point in her following service game to secure her spot in Monday's (August 18) final.
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Following her win, Swiatek admitted: "That was a tough match. At the beginning it was pretty crazy, we played so fast that sometimes we couldn't even run to the second ball."
"I was there to play with intensity and good quality and I am super happy with the performance," she added.
The six-time Grand Slam winner will take on Jasmine Paolini (7) after the Italian edged out the unseeded Veronika Kudermetova 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 in the last four. Both finalists are looking to win a title in Cincinnati for the first time.
Appearance at 2025 WTA Finals awaits Swiatek
The Polish third seed's victory over Rybakina (9) at this Masters 1000 event means she is guaranteed a spot at the year-end WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Swiatek becomes the second player to achieve this after world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka secured her spot at the event last month.
After winning the 2023 WTA Finals, Swiatek crashed out of at the round-robin stage of last year's event.
Coco Gauff would go on to the win the title in 2024 after coming from behind to beat Qinwen Zheng in the final.
Swiatek will be motivated to regain her title when the event comes around in November and close 2025 out on a high.
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