Iga Swiatek Reaches Cincinnati Open Quarterfinals with Win Over Cirstea

CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES — Iga Swiatek continued her strong performance at the Cincinnati Open, defeating Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday, securing her spot in the quarterfinals. The match lasted 1 hour and 35 minutes.

As the No. 3 seed, Swiatek improved her head-to-head record against Cirstea to 5-0, marking her fifth consecutive victory over the Romanian player. Notably, Swiatek has won ten consecutive sets against Cirstea since their last encounter.

The only time Cirstea managed to push Swiatek to a third set was during their first match at the 2022 Australian Open, where Swiatek ultimately triumphed 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

Throughout the tournament, Cincinnati has proved challenging for Swiatek. It is one of only three WTA 1000 events where she has yet to reach the finals. She made it to the semifinals in both of the past two years but lost to Coco Gauff in 2023 and Aryna Sabalenka in 2022.

Swiatek’s next opponent will either be No. 12 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova or No. 28 seed Anna Kalinskaya.

In her match against Cirstea, Swiatek made a swift impact, hitting three early winners that helped her secure an immediate break. Despite experiencing a pair of double faults late in the second set, Swiatek managed to maintain her lead and closed the match with a powerful forehand winner.

During the match, Swiatek recorded 24 winners compared to Cirstea’s nine. Reflecting on her performance, Swiatek stated, “We played many tough matches, so I know Sorana can really hit the ball well — especially on faster surfaces. I was trying to be proactive with my serve.”