Iga Swiatek vs Aryna Sabalenka - Cincinnati Open Tennis Prediction and Pick 8/18/24

Iga Swiatek turned around a losing deficit in her quarterfinal against the 17-year-old precociously talented Mirra Andreeva to reach her second successive semifinal at the WTA Cincinnati Open. The match took 31 games to decide and lasted almost three hours.

It was another demonstration of Andreeva's burgeoning rise to the top of women's tennis that the World No. 1 was forced to raise her level when it mattered. In the victory, Swiatek hammered six aces to two double faults and landed 67% first serves. She won won 74% first-serve points (45/61) and 63% seocond-serve points (19/30). Swiatek converted two of 10 break points.

Aryna Sabalanka, meanwhile, delivered a real statement of intent in her quarterfinal match against Liudmila Samsonova. It was a pretty polished performance by the Belarusian, who will return to World No. 2 of the women's rankings next week.

The match took 17 games to decide and only an hour and 19 minutes. In the victory, Sabalenka hammered five aces to zero double faults. Overall, she hit ten winners to eight unforced errors in the match. By contrast, Samsonova was error-prone as she accounted for 12 winners to 26 unforced errors and was broken three times.

Iga Swiatek vs Aryna Sabalenka Head-To-Head

• Swiatek leads Sabalenka 8-3 in their head-to-head.

• They have played twice this year during the European clay swing. Swiatek won the finals of both Madrid and Rome by beating her closest challenger.

Iga Swiatek vs Aryna Sabalenka Prediction

Sabalenka's best chance of toppling Swiatek has always been on a fast court. And testament to this claim was how close she was to inflicting Swiatek's second defeat on clay this year at the Madrid Open, but she squandered three match points.

The Cincinnati Open is playing very fast this year, going by players' comments, and a court of this profile is what gives the Belarusian a tiny bit of edge in the matchup. Sabalenka has been in the zone this week, not dropping a set all the way to the semifinal, and her composure has been undeterred by a recent shoulder injury. Some of the lapses in concentration that Swiatek has experienced in Cincinnati won't go unpunished against the big-hitting Sabalenka, who will be determined to win her first title since the Australian Open in January.