Cincinnati Titles Provide Swiatek and Alcaraz with Provisions

CINCINNATI, TUESDAY – Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz carry high confidence to compete in the Grand Slam arena of the US Open. They won the WTA/ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Cincinnati before appearing at Flushing Meadows, New York, USA.

Swiatek and Alcaraz both hold championship titles from three Grand Slam tournaments, except for the Australian Open. One of the titles they each won was at the US Open in the same year, namely 2022.

However, the title was claimed by another tennis player in the following two years. The women's singles titles in 2023 and 2024 were won by Cori Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka, while Novak Djokovic and then Jannik Sinner won the men's singles title after Alcaraz.

As the US Open 2025 approaches, from August 24 to September 7, they won the WTA/ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, one of the warm-up tournaments before competing in Flushing Meadows. Moreover, Swiatek became the champion after enduring tough competition without losing a single set.

In the final match at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, on Monday (18/8/2025) evening local time or Tuesday morning Indonesia time, Swiatek defeated Jasmine Paolini with a score of 7-5, 6-4. Her intensity of play did not diminish despite having played a similarly tight match the day before against Elena Rybakina. Swiatek overcame Paolini after trailing 0-3 in the first set.

About five hours before Swiatek's victory, Alcaraz won the men's singles title. The match against his main rival, Sinner, which is usually closely contested, lasted only 23 minutes this time. Sinner withdrew after the score reached 0-5 in the first set due to illness.

The defending champion, who is also the world number one tennis player, attempted to play the final for the audience, despite being unwell since the day before. Alcaraz did not celebrate his victory excessively. He repeatedly approached Sinner to inquire about his condition.

When it was his turn to sign autographs for the TV camera lens broadcasting the live match, Alcaraz wrote “sorry Jannik”.

Alcaraz won the Cincinnati Masters after losing to Sinner in the Wimbledon final, while the WTA Cincinnati title became Swiatek's second in the last month after winning Wimbledon. Swiatek became the champion in her first final in Cincinnati after reaching the semifinals in the previous two editions.

"This means a lot to me. This year, I really want to be the champion here. It is very exciting when I can finally add a title to my list of championships in different places," said Swiatek, who already holds WTA 1000 titles from Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, and Beijing.

Two championship titles have been achieved by the 24-year-old tennis player in the last month after navigating a challenging path in 2025. She was only able to reach the final at a grass court tournament in Germany in the last week of June. This final (lost to Jessica Pegula) was attained a year after she won the French Open.

After that, Swiatek elevated her level of play in the peak competition on grass courts, namely at Wimbledon. She won the final against Amanda Anisimova with a score of 6-0, 6-0.

In her first appearance on the hardcourts in the US from August to September, Swiatek only reached the fourth round of the WTA 1000 Canada. After that, she performed better in Cincinnati. However, there are still gaps she needs to address. In the final against Paolini, she made seven double faults.

"This season has not been easy for me. There are always factors that I need to improve. The situation becomes more difficult when many people expect me to be a champion," said Swiatek on the official WTA website.

The WTA Cincinnati championship title has earned the Polish tennis player her 11th title in WTA 1000 tournaments. She becomes the active women's singles player with the most championship titles at the highest level of the professional women's tournament structure. Four other players with more titles are those who have retired, namely Serena Williams (23 titles), Martina Hingis (17), Steffi Graf (15), and Maria Sharapova (14).

In terms of titles, Alcaraz's eight ATP Masters 1000 titles are only surpassed by Novak Djokovic (40 titles) among active players. The "Next Gen" player, who was once predicted to succeed the era of the "Big Three" (Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer), has already surpassed them. Alexander Zverev has seven Masters 1000 titles, while Daniil Medvedev has six titles. Meanwhile, Sinner has four Masters 1000 titles.

Sinner's pain during the match in weather conditions with a temperature of 31 degrees Celsius and 57 percent humidity in the final has raised doubts about his participation in the mixed doubles event at the US Open. Sinner, who is partnered with Katerina Siniakova, is scheduled to compete in the first round at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday afternoon local time.

Sinner has not confirmed the speculation regarding his withdrawal from the mixed doubles event. During the press conference following the Cincinnati Masters final, he merely stated that he has a few days to recover and that the Grand Slam has always been his target each year.

"The US Open is a major tournament with significant challenges, but I always look forward to it. If I am physically and mentally prepared, I will push myself to perform. There are a few days for recovery, and hopefully, I will be ready," he said.

Unlike usual, the mixed doubles competition at the 2025 US Open started earlier than the singles events. For the sake of an engaging spectacle, the organizers devised a concept that prioritizes participants based on their rankings in the singles category.

In addition to Sinner, many top singles players are also competing, such as Swiatek paired with Casper Ruud. Furthermore, there is Alcaraz teaming up with Emma Raducanu, Djokovic with fellow Serbian, Olga Danilovic, and Naomi Osaka alongside Gael Monfils.

The concept has received criticism from doubles specialists as their rights are marginalized. Moreover, players competing in singles events receive significantly larger prizes than doubles players.

At the 2025 US Open, the singles champion will receive 5 million US dollars (approximately 81.2 billion IDR), while the mixed doubles champions will receive 1 million US dollars (16.2 billion IDR) per pair. This means that each player who becomes a mixed doubles champion will only receive 8.1 billion IDR, which is one-tenth of the prize awarded to the singles champion. (afp/ap)