What Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini said ahead of their Cincinnati Open showdown
Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini will face off in the final of the 2025 Cincinnati Open and here is what they had to say about their sixth top-level meeting.
They have had contrasting runs during the WTA 1000 event as Swiatek hasn’t dropped a set during her four matches – she had a walkover in the third round as Marta Kostyuk withdrew before their encounter – while Paolini has played two three-setters with both coming in her last two matches.
Six-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-final and then saw off Elena Rybakina in the semi-final as she secured a 7-5, 6-3 victory.
Seventh seed Paolini, meanwhile, beat 2024 Cincinnati champion Gauff 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 before edging Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3 to reach her third WTA 1000 final while Swiatek is playing in her 13th final at this level.
Paolini is 2-0 in her two finals to date while Swiatek has won 10 of her 12 finals, losing the 2023 Dubai Championships showpiece match against Barbora Krejcikova and the Madrid Open final against Aryna Sabalenka a few months later.
Head-To-Head Record
The Cincinnati Open final will be Swiatek and Paolini’s sixth clash and the Pole has an unbeaten record as she has won the previous five encounters.
Their most recent match was on the grass at Bad Homburg and Swiatek won 6-1, 6-3 while she also claimed a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win on the hard courts in Malaga, Spain, in the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals last November.
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Their biggest clash to date was in the 2024 Roland Garros final and on that occasion Swiatek was a 6-2, 6-1 winner with her other two wins coming at the 2022 US Open (6-3, 6-0) and in Prague in 2018 (6-2, 6-1).
What They Had To Say
Having dropped just one set in five matches against Paolini, Swiatek is the overwhelming favourite, but she is wary of the Italian, stating: “Anyone who is there [in the final] will have been playing well.”
The former world No 1 added: “Jasmine plays fast, but with a lot of spin, and she has a lot of variety in terms of going to the net as well. I’m going to have to prepare tactically, but I’m just going to kind of focus on myself.”
Paolini knows she will have to up her game against the third seed.
The 29-year-old said: “It’s been really tough against her. She’s an amazing player. It’s always tough to play her. She defends really well, serves well. But I’ll try to do my best. I’m in the final, I like the conditions here. Let’s fight.”
She added: “I think it’s your dream to play these kinds of matches. Usually, I was watching those matches on TV. Now to be able to play some of them, it’s amazing. It’s also nice to compete with champions like Iga or Coco. To me, it’s the goal to play those matches and to try to win them, as well. The people, the energy that you feel, it’s a bit different.”
