Despite leading her Cincinnati Open final opponent, Jasmine Paolini, 5-0 in head-to-head battles, Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek didn’t take anything for granted. Before her maiden summit clash at the WTA 1000 event, the Pole said, “I’m going to have to prepare tactically, but I’m just going to kind of focus on myself.” And just like that, the former World No.1 and six-time major winner made her words come true on Monday, as she won the Cincinnati Open for the first time in her career. However, she also ended up making a serious claim about her Italian rival, right before the next big challenge in New York.

Paolini had started well, winning the first three games before the Pole started to crawl her way back into the match following a close call that went her way. And although the Italian managed to break Swiatek as the latter was serving for the set, the Wimbledon champion broke back two games later to take the first set 7-5. Set No. 2 was also quite gruelling as the two traded breaks, but Swiatek, managing to convert all six of her break points, closed out the set 6-4. When the dust finally settled, Swiatek couldn’t help but admire the fight that her opponent had put up.

During the presentation ceremony, the Pole, in a way, snubbed world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Rolland Garros winner Coco Gauff, to bat for the Italian as her potential opponent in the US Open final. “Thank you, everyone. First of all, great speech Jasmine. I don’t think I can beat that. Congrats for the whole tournament. As usual, you’re playing great. Hopefully, we’re gonna play the final at the U.S. Open in the next two weeks.” Of course, a runner-up finish in Cincinnati could potentially translate to another deep run at the US Open given the similarity in conditions, but the Italian’s form may not be the only reason why the Pole wants her to stick around in New York for the entire stretch.

Concluding her remarks, she said, “Thanks for being such a positive person in the locker room. There’s not many of us who are so positive on a daily basis. It’s always good to see you. Congrats to your team for amazing effort and work. It was a pleasure.” As for Swiatek, she will enter the US Open as the No. 2 seed, having gone past none other than Coco Gauff in the WTA rankings following her title win in Ohio. Funny how sport works.

Iga Swiatek keeps surprising the world and herself

Before Wimbledon, Iga Swiatek had failed to reach any summit clash, let alone win anything in 2025. But things started changing in her favor where she least expected them to. At Bad Homburg, she succeeded in reaching the final before losing to Jessica Pegula. But it was the start of a remarkable return.

The Wimbledon final saw her beat Amanda Anisimova with a historic double bagel. “Tennis keeps surprising me and I keep surprising myself,” she confessed. “The fact it’s on grass, this makes it even more special and more unexpected, so the emotions are bigger. At Roland-Garros, I know I can play well,” she added while stating that “Here I wasn’t sure and I had to prove that to myself.” And she did indeed.

Following her Cincinnati win on Monday, Swiatek had a similar reaction. During the presentation ceremony, she admitted, “I don’t know why I won tournaments that were like the last ones in terms of where I thought I would be playing well.” Will it be a surprise if she wins the US Open, too? After all, she has done it before. But then again, so have Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka.