Tennis
2025-08-17 - Elena Rybakina vs Iga Swiatek
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis: WTA Cincinnati Semi Final
Sunday 17th August 2025 - Scheduled 1pm
6pm (British Time)
Preview
The defending Champion at the US Open is Aryna Sabalenka, but both Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina may be looking to lay down a marker about their intent by winning the Cincinnati Masters.
The winner of this Semi Final is going to be a big favourite to do that, but first they have to overcome a significant test.
Elena Rybakina has to also overcome a mental hurdle having suffered a number of Semi Final defeats this season, including last time out in Montreal. She has not played poorly in these matches, but ultimately it will play on the mind that she has suffered so many defeats at this stage of a tournament.
An impressive win over Aryna Sabalenka has to give Elena Rybakina a lot of confidence going into a match against the player who will be going into the US Open as the Number 2 Seed.
The one surprise about the 2025 season is how underwhelming the Iga Swiatek clay court season turned out to be, but she has been performing at a very good level on the hard courts. At the Australian Open, it took an inspired Madison Keys to win the Semi Final against Iga Swiatek, but the latter is a former US Open Champion and has been putting some fine tennis on display in Cincinnati.
Everyone will feel the power edge is with Elena Rybakina, but Iga Swiatek has an underrated serve and that can put plenty of pressure on the former.
Three straight wins on the hard courts against Elena Rybakina backs that statement up, and Iga Swiatek has dominated the number of Break Points created.
There is no doubting how well Elena Rybakina is playing, but the numbers produced by Iga Swiatek at this tournament are very impressive. A strength has been the consistency that Swiatek has found on her return of serve and that could be the key to the outcome of this match and help the Pole beat this opponent for the fourth time in a row.
If Elena Rybakina is able to bring her very best serving onto the court, she will cause problems, but Iga Swiatek has been playing well enough to win this Semi Final and cover the handicap mark set.
Prediction
Lay the games with the higher Ranked player in this Semi Final, one that could see the winner make a statement to her biggest rivals ahead of the US Open.
The Pick :
Elena Rybakina 0-2 Iga Swiatek
