Sabalenka, Swiatek make Cincinnati quarters

Cincinnati, Aug 14 (IANS) World no.1 Aryna Sabalenka and no. 3 seed Iga Swiatek advanced to Cincinnati Open quarterfinal here on Thursday (IST).

Defending champion Sabalenka beat Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-1, 7-5. This was her 50th win of the season.

She will face former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, who beat Australian Open champion Madison Keys 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-2.

Swiatek advanced to her third straight Cincinnati Open quarterfinal with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat over Sorana Cirstea in 1 hour and 35 minutes.

Swiatek made a lightning-fast start to the match, hammering three clean winners en route to an immediate break -- a lead she maintained for the whole of the first set.

A pair of double faults from Cirstea handed the Pole an immediate lead in the second set as well, but Swiatek repaid the favor with two of her own in the subsequent game, WTA reports.

Swiatek took a 4-1 lead before dropping serve for a second time, but was able to keep her nose in front and closed out her first match point with a forehand winner.

"We played many tough matches, so I know Sorana can really hit the ball well -- especially on faster surfaces. So I was ready. I'm happy I was solid enough. I was trying to be proactive with my serve -- not many of my first serves went in, but I was happy I was solid on my second serves," Swiatek said.

Cincinnati is one of only three WTA 1000 events on the current calendar that Swiatek has played without yet reaching the final. She was a semifinalist here in both of the past two years, falling to Coco Gauff at that stage in 2023 and Aryna Sabalenka last year. She will next face either Anna Kalinskaya, who defeated No. 12 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

--IANS

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