Women's finals: Petra Kvitova vs. Caroline Garcia
Petra Kvitova sealed the deal for her 12th WTA 1000 finals appearance today, beating Madison Keys in three full sets: 7(8)-6(6), 6-4, 6-3.
She's expected to leap in the rankings after this tournament ends. The WTA predicts her to be at No. 24 following this semifinals win and, if she gets her hands on the title, she could land as high as No. 15. Runner up would put her as high as No. 20.
In terms of active players, Kvitova is tied with Victoria Azarenka and Angelique Kerber for fifth most appearances in the semifinals with 63 total and a record of 39-23. She's had some stand out moments this week in Cincinnati, including when she saved a match point, hit a tournament-leading 28 aces and is winning 84.8% of her service games.
Kvitova will face Caroline Garcia in tomorrow's championship women's singles match on Center Court, starting at 2 p.m.
Garcia defeated No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets, following a lengthy rain delay: 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Garcia was the first qualifier to reach the semifinals since 2007 and she is now the first ever qualifier to reach the finals in WTA 1000 history. The WTA predicts her to be at No. 28 after smashing the semifinals and she could land herself back in the top 20 if she hoists the trophy. Runner up would put her as high as No. 22.
She is leading the tour in main draw victories with 25 since June, including two title wins in that stretch in Warsaw and Bad Homburg. She's also leading the tour in aces with 267 and has improved from 78.1% to 93.5% in her service games since the start of the Western & Southern Open on Aug. 13.
Men's finals: Borna Coric vs. No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas
Borna Coric also sealed the deal for his second ever ATP 1000 finals appearance today, beating No. 9 Cameron Norrie in straight sets: 6-3, 6-4.
Coric has been plowing through the rankings since landing in Cincinnati, jumping 86 spots to No. 66 on the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He's predicted to land as high as No. 48 as runner up and No. 29 with the title − that's 124 spots in eight days, he started at No. 152. He came in as the second lowest ranked Cincinnati semifinalist since the start of Pepperstone in 1973 and with his win today, he has become the all-time lowest ranked finalist in Cincinnati tournament history.
The last time Coric won an ATP Masters title was in Shanghai in 2018. There have been six first-time ATP Masters 1000 champions in the last 14 tournaments in 2021-22. Coric could join the list as No. 7 if he gets his hands on the title − the last first-time champion in Cincinnati to make it to the finals was current No. 1 Daniil Medvedev.
Coric will face No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas in tomorrow's championship men's singles match on Center Court, starting at 4:30 p.m.
Tsitsipas defeated Medvedev in three sets and a tiebreaker, following the same lengthy rain delay: 7(8)-6(6), 3-6, 6-3. He leads the ATP Tour in victories with 46, looking to collect the 47th against Coric tomorrow, and he is also 2-10 against World No. 1s after beating Novak Djokovic in Shanghai 2019 and now Medvedev in Cincinnati.
Saturday was his second consecutive time in the Cincinnati semifinals. He's had 12 overall semifinal showings in his career, four of them just this year. He became a first time ATP Masters 1000 champion in Monte-Carlo in 2021 and Sunday will be his first time in the Cincinnati finals and sixth overall finals appearance.
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