Third-ranked Iga Swiatek on Monday night captured the Cincinnati Open title for the first time by defeating No. 7 Jasmine Paolini 7-5, 6-4, while Carlos Alcaraz won the men’s final earlier in the day when Jannik Sinner retired due to illness during the first set.
Swiatek had failed to advance past the semi-finals in her six previous appearances at the Cincinnati Open. She reached the semi-finals in Cincinnati each of the past two years, but lost to eventual champions Coco Gauff in 2023 and Aryna Sabalenka last year.
“It means a lot to me,” Swiatek said. “This year I really wanted it. I’m just very happy. It’s nice to check off the list another tournament that I haven’t won. I have friends here. It’s a nice, relaxed tournament before New York.”
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Swiatek has won all six meetings against the Italian, dropping only one set in those matches.
Paolini jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set, but Swiatek roared back to go ahead 5-3. Paolini broke serve to get even at 5-5, but Swiatek closed out a first-set victory in 56 minutes.
Swiatek’s eighth ace of the match gave her a 5-3 lead in the second set. Paolini broke serve twice in the second set and was within 5-4, but Swiatek was able to serve out the match for her 24th career singles title.
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“This season hasn’t been easy,” Swiatek said. “I’ve had areas to improve. It’s not easy to win tournaments when everyone is expecting you to.”
Swiatek had seven double faults to two for Paolini, but she also had nine aces, while Paolini had none.
“When the rallies were going, I felt good on the court,” Paolini said. “The serves were the difference. When she needed an ace, she hit an ace.”
Paolini is the first Italian woman to reach the finals in Cincinnati. Since she was a qualifier at the Cincinnati Open in 2023, Paolini has reached two Grand Slam singles finals, won a Grand Slam doubles title and an Olympic gold medal.
“It was definitely a positive tournament for me,” Paolini said. “It wasn’t enough, of course. I just need to improve.”
Carlos Alcaraz won the Cincinnati Open title in a little more than 20 minutes after top-ranked Jannik Sinner was forced to retire because of illness during the first set.
Meeting in the final for the fourth time this year and first since Wimbledon, Sinner fell behind 5-0 in the first set with nine unforced errors. He was seen with an icepack on his head during a break and retired after playing just 22 minutes.
“Didn’t feel great from yesterday,” Sinner said. “Also, during the night, I thought I would recover a bit better, but it was not the case. I just tried to go out for the fans, trying to give a match, but it was not meant to be for me today.”
It was only the third time the Cincinnati Open men’s final ended in a retirement, and the first since 2011 when Novak Djokovic stopped playing in the second set because of a shoulder injury.
“Wanted to wish Jannik a speedy recovery and in a few days, hopefully he’s going to be okay,” Alcaraz said. “For myself, I am really, really happy to lift the trophy. I lost the final here in 2023. I wanted really badly this trophy.”
Sinner, who turned 24 on Saturday, was on 12-match winning streak and had won 26 straight matches on hard courts. He was bidding to become the first player to win back-to-back men’s Cincinnati Open titles since Roger Federer in 2014 and 2015.
Alcaraz, who is ranked No. 2, now holds a 9-5 advantage in his matchups with the Italian.
Sinner won in four sets at Wimbledon while the Spaniard won a five-set thriller at the French Open and in straight sets in the Rome Masters in May.
Another classic matchup was not to be on Monday. Sinner received medical attention after having his serve broken for the third time and retired moments later.
“After the third game, I just noticed that he wasn’t feeling good,” Alcaraz said. “I know him. I’ve been battling against him, having great matches, great battles. I noticed he was missing more often. It’s pretty weird from him.”
It was only the third time the top two men’s players have met in the Cincinnati Open final, the last being No. 2 Djokovic and No. 1 Alcaraz in 2022 and No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Djokovic in 2012.
The Cincinnati Open is considered a tune-up for the US Open, which is to begin on Sunday in New York. The past two years, the men’s and women’s Cincinnati Open champions went on to win the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday led the way into the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals, with Carlos Alcaraz hot on their heels after a straight-sets victory of his own. Sinner shrugged off a mid-match weather delay lasting nearly three hours as he advanced 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) over Adrian Mannarino. Alcaraz, the second seed who has reached the final in his past six tournaments, hammered Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4. After sweeping the opening set in 28 minutes, Alcaraz hit a speed bump, dropping his serve to trail 2-4. He promptly regained the break, then fought through a marathon ninth game
STUMBLE: World No. 2 Coco Gauff confidently won her first set against seventh-seed Italian Jasmine Paolini before being overcome in the second and third sets World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and second-ranked Coco Gauff were sent crashing out of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Friday, while Carlos Alcaraz fought off a fierce challenge from Andrey Rublev to reach the semi-finals. Top seed and defending champion Sabalenka had no answer for Elena Rybakina, falling to the 2022 Wimbledon champion 6-1, 6-4. Reigning French Open champion Gauff had 16 double faults in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 exit at the hands of seventh-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini. Spain’s second-ranked Alcaraz had his difficulties, but he broke Rublev in the final game of a tense duel to emerge a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 winner
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