Tennis star Iga Świątek can cross another item off her bucket list, with the world No. 3 downing No. 10 Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday to clinch a spot in the 2025 Cincinnati Open final — Świątek's first-ever championship appearance at the US Open tune-up tournament.

"At the beginning, the level was pretty crazy," the six-time Grand Slam winner told reporters after Sunday's match, commending Rybakina. "But I was there to play with intensity, good quality, and I'm happy with the performance."

One of only two WTA 1000 events without a Świątek finals appearance, the annual Cincinnati Open has seen the Polish tennis star advance to the semifinals in both 2023 and 2024 — falling both times to the eventual tournament champion.

With No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Coco Gauff both making quarterfinal exits, Świątek will next face No. 9 Jasmine Paolini in Monday's final, after the Italian contender fought past No. 36 Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3 in their Sunday afternoon semifinal.

Świątek last shared a finals court with Paolini at the 2024 French Open, with Świątek going on to lift her fourth Roland Garros trophy following a straight-set victory in the clash.

How to watch the 2025 Cincinnati Open final

The 2025 Cincinnati Open final between Świątek and Paolini kicks off at 6 PM ET on Monday, with live coverage airing on the Tennis Channel.

Tennis fans saw an epic battle on Monday, as world No. 39 Emma Raducanu forced No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka into a third-set tiebreak in the third round of the 2025 Cincinnati Open.

The British 22-year-old, who burst into the sport's upper echelons by winning the 2021 US Open as an unseeded teenage qualifier, came achingly close to ousting the top-ranked three-time Grand Slam winner in a match that required more than three hours and two tie-breaks to resolve.

"She's world No. 1 for a reason, and I pushed her more than I did at Wimbledon so that's an improvement," said Raducanu, ultimately falling to the 2024 Cincinnati Open winner in Monday's narrow 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (5) loss.

Clearly affected by the oppressive humidity of the southern Ohio summer, Sabalenka took risks in the match's late stages to offset her 72 unforced errors and her diminishing energy.

"At the end, I went for crazy shots," Sabalenka told the crowd following the 2025 US Open tune-up match. "I think that it was a little bit risky from me and it really helped to put a lot of pressure on her."

Along with Sabalenka, this week's Round of 16 will feature at least four other Top-10 contenders, as 2025 Australian Open victor No. 6 Madison Keys and Kazakhstan's No. 10 Elena Rybakina booked their own Round of 32 wins on Monday, while 2025 French Open champion No. 2 Coco Gauff and 2025 Wimbledon winner No. 3 Iga Świątek enjoyed extra rest as their third-round opponents withdrew due to illness and injury on Tuesday.

Hoping to join the Gauff and Keys's advancing US contingent are No. 4 Jessica Pegula and No. 35 Ashlyn Krueger, who will face Poland's No. 40 Magda Linette and Italy's No. 9 Jasmine Paolini, respectively, on Tuesday.

How to watch the Cincinnati Open

Tennis's best will keep battling for Cincy's trophy — and an edge going into the season's final Grand Slam — this week: The third round will wrap on Tuesday before the Round of 16 kicks off on Wednesday.

Live coverage of the 2025 Cincinnati Open will continue airing on the Tennis Channel.

With the Grand Slam calendar nearing its close, stars flocked to this week's Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati to prepare for this year's US Open. Reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka earned the win at the WTA 1000 event, taking down US player Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 on Monday.

Coco Gauff reacts to a rally in her Round of 32 loss to Yulia Putintseva at the Cincinnati Open
US Olympian Coco Gauff fell to Yulia Putintseva in the Cincinnati Open's Round of 32. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)

Fatigue impacts returning Olympic tennis players

With a uniquely crowded schedule this summer, partially due to the Paris Olympics, players entered this week with varying levels of fitness and fatigue.

China's newly crowned Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng fell in the Round of 16 and Croatian silver medalist Donna Vekic failed to advance out of the Round of 64. Bronze medalist Iga Świątek reached the semifinals before losing to Sabalenka, while Pegula made this week's final match after competing for the US in Paris.

Fellow Team USA Olympians Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro fell in Cincinnati's Round of 32 and Round of 64, respectively.

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus celebrates her victory over Jessica Pegula at the Cincinnati Open
Sabalenka returned from injury to compete in Cincinnati. (Frey/TPN/Getty Images)

Rest aided Sabalenka's Cincinnati Open win

On the other hand, Sabalenka missed Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury and, as a Belarusian athlete, did not participate in the Olympics. The world No. 3-ranked player returned to the hardcourt looking as sharp as she did at the beginning of the year, ultimately earning Monday's victory.

"This trophy means a lot, it is a really big achievement, especially coming after injury, with this fear of getting injured again," Sabalenka told press in Cincinnati. "My team did everything they could to make sure I felt as good as I can and I am proud of myself I was able to handle all of those emotions."

2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff and runner-up Aryna Sabalenka pose with their awards
2023 US Open champ Coco Gauff and runner-up Aryna Sabalenka will compete in the year's final Grand Slam in New York next week. (Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Tennis stars shift focus to US Open

The 26-year-old, who hit her first No. 1 ranking in September 2023 before relinquishing the title back to Świątek, will be hunting her third Grand Slam title and first at the US Open when play begins at the New York tournament next week. Sabalenka finished the 2023 US Open as the runner-up to Gauff, who earned her first major tournament title in three sets last September.

With a short turnaround and major surface change from the Paris Games, form and fitness could play a major role at this year's US Open. A number of athletes declined to participate in the Olympics in order to focus on the year's final Slam, and all eyes will be on Queens next week to see if those decisions paid off.

Caroline Garcia is peaking at the right time. The 28-year-old French player has won more matches than any other player on the WTA tour since June — 27 in total, including a title Sunday in Cincinnati.

The Western & Southern Open title marks her third career WTA 1000 title and her 10th WTA tour title overall.

Already in 2022, the 28-year-old won a grass-court title at the Bad Homburg Open and a clay-court title at the Poland Open, but those were both lower-tier WTA 250 events.

In Ohio, she easily handled Petra Kvitova in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. In doing so, she became the first qualifier to win a title in a WTA 1000 event since the tour’s highest tier was formed in 2009. After the win, Garcia called it “pure joy.”

“Just happiness. Every single win is very important. Every title is very special,” she said. “It’s always very hard to describe it. It’s not happening so often, and you have to really enjoy it. I’m really grateful for this great week of tennis, and to win another title, it’s very special.”

The tour leader in aces this season, Garcia added to that number Sunday with 11 during the final, bringing her total to 286.

While she fell to as low as No. 79 in the world earlier this year, the former world No. 4 has been the hottest ticket on tour since June with her 27 main-draw match wins.

With her 33 total wins this year, she trails just three players: Iga Swiatek (50), Simona Halep (39) and Ons Jabeur (38).

Petra Kvitova advanced to her 40th career final Saturday, holding off a determined Madison Keys in the Western & Southern Open semifinals.

The Czech star rebounded after falling to Keys in the opening set tie break, charging to a 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3 victory.

The duo was incredibly evenly matched, highlighted by their 4-4 head-to-head going into Saturday’s semifinal contest.

Keys logged 28 winners and 12 unforced errors, while Kvitova notched 24 winners and 16 unforced errors in the two-hour battle. Kvitova, however, converted when it mattered most, breaking Keys to start the deciding set.

Saturday’s loss ends a remarkable run for Keys in Cincinnati, taking out World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in her path to the semis.

Kvitova will meet the winner of Caroline Garcia and No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka’s Saturday semifinal matchup in Sunday’s final.

Madison Keys stunned No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday to advance to the tournament’s quarterfinals.

The 27-year-old American charged to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Swiatek, marking Keys’ first win over a reigning world No. 1. Swiatek got the better of the duo’s two previous meetings leading up to Cincinnati.

“I obviously have not had the best success against World No. 1s, so being able to get a win against Iga, especially after having two losses to her already, means a lot to me, and I think I’m playing some pretty good tennis,” Keys said following the match.

Keys’ big hitting helped her clinch the breakthrough win over Swiatek, as she blasted 14 winners to the world No. 1’s six.

Swiatek has now incurred three straight third-round losses, holding a 4-4 record since her historic 37-match winning streak ended at Wimbledon.

Keys will meet world No. 25 Elena Rybakina in the Western & Southern Open’s quarterfinal round, with the Wimbledon champion yet to lose a set so far in the tournament.

Naomi Osaka made a quick exit from the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. The former world No. 1 lost to Zhang Shuai in straight sets (6-4, 7-5) in the first round Tuesday.

After Zhang’s win, Osaka and Zhang have three wins each against one another in their careers.

The victory is Zhang’s first against a major winner since the 2020 Australian Open, when she took out Sloane Stephens in three sets. The No. 44-ranked player had just four aces but was able to serve more effectively than Osaka, winning 73 percent of the points on her first and second deliveries.

Osaka, meanwhile, was upended by 29 unforced errors, which outweighed her 21 winners.

The loss marks the second first-round exit in a row for Osaka, who also fell out early in the Canadian Open last week. She was trailing Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi in Toronto when she retired from the match with a back injury.

She hasn’t dropped back-to-back opening matches since doing so at the same two tournaments in 2018. But she followed up those losses with her first major win at the U.S. Open.

Serena Williams is scheduled to play the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati next month, tournament organizers said on Tuesday.

The 40-year-old is set to use her projected ranking in the tournament.

Williams made her return to the WTA after a year away last month at Wimbledon. While she exited in the first round, Williams has made it clear that she expects to play in the US Open in August.

As a result, the 23-time Grand Slam champion is set to play at the National Bank Open in Toronto from Aug. 6-14.

Both tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati are considered tune-ups for the US Open.

Williams has won the tournament in Cincinnati twice — in 2014 and 2015. This year’s tournament is headlined by world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Also included amongst the field are Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys, Garbiñe Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova.

Other Grand Slam champions in the women’s draw include Naomi Osaka (who recently signed on for the San Jose tournament), Emma Raducanu, Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu, Jelena Ostapenko, Barbora Krejcikova, Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova and Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

The Western and Southern Open takes place Aug. 13-21.