Aryna Sabalenka defeated Iga Swiatek in straight sets for the first time in her career to reach the Cincinnati Open final on Sunday.
The word No.3, who has lost eight out of her previous 11 matches against Swiatek, took advantage of the quick courts to seal a 6-3, 6-3, victory. It is the 17th time in her career that she has beaten a top five player on the Tour and the fifth time she has beaten a player currently ranked first in the WTA rankings.
“I definitely had a plan and it’s definitely worked well today,” Sabalenka told Sky Sports Tennis.
“I think the key was to not overdo stuff because in the previous matches (against Swiatek) I was overdoing stuff. I thoughtI had to overhit the ball. I thought I had to go wider and try to move her more.
“Today I was like ‘come on, just try to pretend that there is like whoever at the net just just focus on yourself and do your thing. If you’re good enough, you’re going to get the win. If not, you’re going to go and work more and try better next time.'”
Throughout the majority of her latest encounter, the 26-year-old out-hit her rival by firing shots deep toward the baseline. Meanwhile, Swiatek struggled to maintain consistency when serving with the Pole getting broken five times. However, closing the match out was far from easy for a tense Sabalenka, who failed to convert nine match point opportunities across two games before sealing victory with a clean backhand winner.
“That was definitely a tough moment of the match,” she commented.
“I just kept telling myself that she’s world number one. She’s going to fight till the very last point.
“I was just trying to remind myself to keep staying aggressive, keep pushing her, keep doing your thing and hopefully you’re going to get this win.”
Sabalenka is yet to drop a set in Cincinnati. She has also registered wins over Liudmila Samsonova, Elina Svitolina, and Elisabetta Cocciaretto. It is the fifth time this year she has reached the final of a WTA event. Earlier in the season, she won the Australia Open as well as finishing runner-up at events in Brisbane, Madrid and Rome.
“It’s difficult to play on this surface,” the two-time Grand Slam champion said of the conditions in Cincinnati.
“I would say that the first two matches were really tricky. I was trying to kind of like figure out what’s going on on the surface, like where the ball bounced.
“I felt like more confident and better and better. I kind of like found my rhythm on this court. I think I just adjusted pretty well to the surface.”
She will next play either Jessica Pegula or Paula Badlsa for the title. Regardless of the outcome, Sabalenkla will move upthe WTA rankings to No.2 on Monday.
