Preview Cincinnati Open WTA Semi-Finals: Rybakina-Swiatek and Kudermetova-Paolini battle for place in the final

But firstly, her focus is on Cincinnati. A comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win over Russian Anastasia Potapova was followed by a bye through to round four, with her opponent, Marta Kostyuk, pulling out with a wrist injury. Straight set victories against Sorana Cirstea and Anna Kalinskaya followed, easing her way to the last four, where she will compete for her 13th Masters 1000 final.

The pair have faced off 12 times, with Swiatek currently on a four-match winning streak against Rybakina. They last faced off at this year's Roland Garros, where the four-time champion came back from a set down to send Rybakina home.

Match Info: Elena Rybakina - Iga Swiatek

Start time (local): Not scheduled yet

Start time (your time): Not scheduled yet

Court: P&G Center Court

Tournament: Cincinnati Open

Round: Semifinal

Head-to-Head

Veronika Kudermetova v Jasmine Paolini 

It has been a dream run for Judermetova, who looks to reach her first-ever Masters 1000 singles final. She has previously made it to consecutive semi-finals at Madrid and Rome previously in 2023, but since then, she has failed to bypass the third round. Her last singles final ended in triumph over Pegula in the Pan Pacific Open back in 2023.

The Russian came off Wimbledon with her first Grand Slam in the doubles, paired up with Mertens. She went into the Canadian Open with that success on her back, but succumbed to world number two Coco Gauff in the third round. In Cincinnati, she eased past Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens before an impressive straight-sets win over 2021 Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic. Just before her doubles campaign came to an abrupt end, she shocked Tauson in three sets to set up a tie with another seed, Magda Linette.

The Russian, now with just singles on her mind, got past the Pole to set up a tie with qualifier Varvara Gracheva. On the men's side, Terence Atmane had done the unthinkable and reached the semi-finals to face an Italian, but Gracheva could not produce the same incredible feet.

A final beckons for Kudermetova, but she has a tough test in Paolini. After back-to-back singles finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, the Italian won her first Masters 1000 event in her backyard, defeating Gauff in Rome for a fantastic success. Adding to that, she has won two doubles 1000 titles and succeeded with Sara Errani to win Roland Garros.

After the disappointing round two exits at Wimbledon and Montreal, the world number nine was determined to come back with a vengeance. Former world number three Maria Sakkari was the first victim, with Ashlyn Krueger also going down in two sets. In a repeat of last year's Wimbledon final, Krejcikova had no answer against the clinical Paolini, managing to win three lonesome games.

The quarter-final would also prove to be a duplicate of a previous final; this time it was Gauff looking for revenge. The American took the upper hand early on, but Paolini clawed her way back into it, making it through to the last four.

The pair have faced off four times, with Kudermetova disposing of her opponent in the last three of them. The last time they met wasin the early stages of this competition in 2021, with the pair completly different players now.

Match Info: Veronika Kudermetova - Jasmine Paolini

Start time (local): Not scheduled yet

Start time (your time): Not scheduled yet

Court: P&G Center Court

Tournament: Cincinnati Open

Round: Semifinal

Head-to-Head