Tennis News: Ahead of the 2026 Cincinnati Open semifinals, 32 year old tennis player Jessica Pegula said that the confident Iga Swiatek was always scary.
The third seed managed to get through two tough matches in a row to advance to the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open for the second time. She first beat Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea with 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, before then beating her compatriot, Amanda Anisimova with 6-4, 2-6, 7-6.
On the other hand, seventh seed Swiatek continued her impressive form after winning six matches in Toronto and ending her title drought. He also successfully passed his first four tests in Cincinnati, extending his winning streak to 10 matches.
Before the series of hard-court tournaments in North America, the Polish tennis player had difficulty finding his best form and game, recording 23-12. Now, after a recent resurgence in form, that record looks much better at 33-12.
The home tennis player believes that former world number 1 Swiatek has rediscovered her best form and returned to the level of play that has made her dominate in recent seasons.
“I feel that Iga has returned a little to her original game, rediscovering the rhythm and foundation of the game through the wins she has achieved. In the past, we often saw her win in a fairly straightforward way, without anything unusually strange. In my opinion, Iga, who is confident, is always a scary opponent,” admitted the highest-ranked US female tennis player, Pegula.
Heading into the Cincinnati Open semifinal match, Swiatek leads their head to head at 7-5, including winning their only meeting of the 2026 season in Rome. In hard-court tournaments, the two players have met nine times, with the Polish national winning five of them.
“Jessie’s playing style on the court is different from mine, but she has sharp intuition and a great ability to predict where her opponent will direct the ball. Her racket is very hard and unpredictable. Of course, this will be a challenge in itself,” said Swiatek regarding her match against Pegula.
“US tennis players are also more enthusiastic when competing in US tournaments, so I have to be ready to face his best performance. We have often had tough matches against each other and he will definitely enjoy playing here too, so I will be ready.”
We’ll see if Pegula can become the first player to beat Swiatek in a hard-court tournament this summer.
Article Tags: jessica pegula, cincinnati open, ribs swiatek
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