By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, August 15, 2025
Photo credit: Cincinnati Open Facebook
Anna Kalinskaya showed stiff resistance, but Iga Swiatek played with powerful persistence reaching her third straight Cincinnati Open semifinal.
The 24-year-old Swiatek converted her fifth match point completing a 6-3, 6-4 victory to become the youngest woman in Open Era history to advance to three consecutive Cincinnati semifinals.
Continuing her hunt for an 11th WTA 1000 championship—and first Cincinnati final—Swiatek will play either world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka or ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina for a spot in the final.
“For sure the match was much different. I’m happy I just played my game,” Swiatek told Andrew Krasny in her on-court interview. “For sure, it wasn’t easy. Just happy that I was solid.”
Semifinal number 3 in Cincy 🔜@iga_swiatek books her place with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Kalinskaya.#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/kqXLBmWfw7
— wta (@WTA) August 15, 2025
Wimbledon winner Swiatek has won 12 of her last 13 matches improving to 47-12 on the season.
Today’s opening quarterfinal was a rematch of the 2024 Dubai semifinals, which Kalinskaya swept 6-4, 6-4.
Swiatek set the tone winning 12 of her first 13 service points and breaking in the fourth game as she charged out to a 4-1 lead.
Taking the court with kinesiology tape wrapping her right shoulder, Kalinskaya took a medical timeout after the third game to have her left calf completely taped.
The world No. 34 issued a love hold to close the gap to 2-4 and saved two set points holding for 3-5.
Undeterred, Swiatek bolted a backhand winner down the line to convert her third set point and build a one-set lead.
The pair traded breaks in the third and fourth games of the second set.
Even at 3-all, Swiatek surged through eight of the next nine points, breaking in the seventh game and quickly backing up the break for 5-3.
Credit Kalinskaya, who moves up to No. 30 in the live rankings, for battling right to the end. Kalinskaya denied four match points in the ninth game, including whipping her trademark two-hander down the line to save the fourth match point. A whipping wide serve helped her hold for 4-5.
The Swiatek serve was on point today.
The five-time Grand Slam champion won 24 of 29 first-serve points and unleashed a pair of heavy serves converting her fifth match point to close in one hour, 34 minutes.
