Sinner, Alcaraz renew rivalry, Swiatek battles Paolini in Cincinnati Open finals on TSN
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The two best men's players in the world will once again meet in an ATP final as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz clash in the final at the Cincinnati Open on Monday.
It's the fourth time in the past three months that the world No. 1 and No. 2 will clash with a title on the line.
Sinner is in top form once again and has not dropped a set en route to the final, including straight-sets wins over Canadians Gabriel Diallo and Felix Auger-Aliassime. The 24-year-old looks to extend his 26-match winning streak on hard courts in his eighth career ATP-1000 level final.
“It's going to be a very, very difficult match, but hopefully it's going to be, in any case, a good match,” said Sinner, the world No. 1, following his semifinal win over Terence Atmane. “Hopefully it's a very high-level match. That's what for us players is important, but also for the people who are watching. We will see what kind of fun is going to [happen] on Monday.”
Alcaraz dispatched a pair of top-10 seeds on his way to the final, defeating ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the quarter-final and No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the semis. The 22-year-old has now reached the final in seven consecutive tour-level tournaments.
“I’m excited about it. It’s going to be great,” said Alcaraz ahead of facing Sinner once again. “He won the last one, I won the first two finals, so I think it’s going to be really interesting. It’s the first final [between us this year] on a hard court, so I’m excited about taking that challenge.
“I know that Jannik, without a doubt, is the best player in the world on hard courts and probably on every surface right now, so it’s going to be a great match and I have to be ready for that.”
Alcaraz has won two of the three meetings between the two this season, claiming the 1000-level title in Rome in May before defeating Sinner in an all-time classic in the final at Roland-Garros where he rallied from two sets down and saved three championship points to claim the title in Paris for the second-straight year.
Sinner earned a measure of revenge and Wimbledon, clinching a dominant four-set victory to win his first title at the All-England Club.
Swiatek, Paolini clash in women's final
Later on Monday, Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini face off in the women's final, each looking to win in Cincinnati for the first time.
Watch Swiatek vs. Paolini LIVE tonight at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on TSN4, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, will aim for her 11th 1000-level title on Monday evening, which would tie her for the fifth-most all-time with Lindsay Davenport. It is the first 1000 final of the season for the world No. 3, who continues to ride a wave of momentum after winning her first-career Wimbledon title with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Amanda Anisimova last month.
“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,” the former world No. 1 said of Paolini. “I’m going to have to prepare tactically, but I’m just going to kind of focus on myself."
Swiatek is 5-0 against Paolini in her career, with the most recent victory coming in the semifinals at Bad Homburg in June.
Paolini is playing for her third 1000-level championship, and second this season after winning her home tournament in Rome. Paolini upset world No. 2 Coco Gauff en route to the final.
“I think it’s your dream to play these kinds of matches,” Paolini said. “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.”
“It’s been really tough against her,” the Italian said of Swiatek. “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."