CINCINNATI, Aug 23 \u2014 Jessica Pegula rallied from a break down in the final set to topple defending champion Iga Swiatek 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 yesterday and reach the final of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.<\/p>\n
World number three Pegula needed nearly three hours to dethrone Swiatek as the duo rode a rollercoaster of breaks and re-breaks before the 31-year-old American took a 5-4 lead in the final set after Swiatek saved three break points but double-faulted on a fourth.<\/p>\n
Pegula quickly closed it out, firing a service winner on match point to reach today\u2019s championship match in the US Open tune-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrazy match today,\u201d Pegula said. \u201cA lot of back and forth, a lot of breaks,\u201d Pegula said, \u201cReally windy, kind of odd conditions. I felt like we were playing well and then not playing well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really tough to kind of get a gauge on the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just really happy with the way I was able to kind of handle just a lot that was going on today. I did a good job of no matter what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pegula will face either unseeded Czech Sara Bejlek or fourth-ranked Coco Gauff in today\u2019s final.<\/p>\n
Bejlek, 20, went into their yesterday night semi-final seeking another big upset, having knocked off world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s Arthur Fils charged into the men\u2019s final, dispatching French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4 in a match delayed for 45 minutes by rain and lightning.<\/p>\n
Swiatek and Pegula then waited out another rain delay before their match, which was also briefly interrupted two games in.<\/p>\n
The first five games of what evolved into an epic went against the server as Pegula and Swiatek struggled to adjust to the conditions.<\/p>\n
Swiatek blinked first as Pegula held at love for a 4-2 lead, but Swiatek won the next three games before Pegula broke again, finally taking the set when Swiatek smacked a volley into the net on set point.<\/p>\n
They had exchanged two breaks in the second when Swiatek grabbed a lifeline and broke in the final game to square the match.<\/p>\n
Swiatek will drop from fifth to eighth in the world after failing to defend her title, but it\u2019s been a productive August for the former world number one who claimed her first title of the year in Toronto this month.<\/p>\n
Fils booked his first ever Masters 1000 final and will face Frances Tiafoe, who beat fellow American Brandon Nakashima 7-5, 6-3.<\/p>\n
Tiafoe saved three set points in the opening set, breaking Nakashima five times in all to earn the win in less than two hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels damn good,\u201d said Tiafoe, who finished runner-up to Jannik Sinner in Cincinnati in 2024. \u201cI had some nerves, but I\u2019m super happy. I got a good rhythm on my serve and was returning great.\u201d<\/p>\n
The American predicted a \u201chell of a show\u201d against Fils, whose 68-minute win over seventh-seeded Cobolli made him the youngest French Masters finalist since a 20-year-old Richard Gasquet in Toronto two decades ago.<\/p>\n
Fils admitted he had been unsettled by the weather delay.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou come on court more nervous because it\u2019s a semi-final. The rain arrives, you wait, and when you come back conditions are completely different,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was tough but I\u2019m happy with how I dealt with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fils recovered an early break and after breaking Cobolli for a 5-3 lead served out the first set after 25 minutes.<\/p>\n
He stepped up his intensity to start the second set with a break, finally closing out the win with another stinging forehand winner to the corner. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n
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