Iga Swiatek 'splitting up' gruelling season after reaching Cincinnati Open quarter-finals by beating Sorana Cirstea in straight sets
Published 13/08/2025 at 18:25 GMT+1
Iga Swiatek is the youngest player in a decade to reach the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open for three consecutive years. She booked her place in the last eight with a straight-sets win against Sorana Cirstea. After the match, Swiatek spoke of how she manages the intensity of the season by focusing on one tournament at a time.
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Iga Swiatek says she has to take the season one tournament at a time to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the amount of tennis she is playing.
The world No. 3 is through to the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open after a straight-sets win against Sorana Cirstea. She will play either Ekaterina Alexandrova or Anna Kalinskaya in the last eight.
Speaking after the 6-4 6-3 victory, Swiatek said: "We played many tough matches, so I know Sorana can really hit the ball well, especially on faster surfaces, so I was ready, and I am happy that I was solid enough.
"Not many of these first serves went in, but I was happy that I was really solid on second serve and kept it cool."
Swiatek started the match fast and broke Cirstea in the opening game to take control early, before proceeding to win the first set 6-4.
It was deja vu in the second set as Swiatek broke her opponent straight away, only for Cirstea to break back instantly.
However, Cirstea lost her first three service games as she failed to build on her initial fightback and allowed Swiatek to take a 4-1 lead.
Searing Cincinatti temperatures notably impacted the energy levels of the game and both players were clearly waning.
The change of tempo made the path less straightforward for Swiatek, who lost two games in a row as Cirstea was given a glimmer of hope.
That hope soon evaporated as Swiatek recovered to hold serve before breaking Cirstea once more to take victory.
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Speaking about hitting more of her targets before the end of the season, Wimbledon champion Swiatek said: "I have some goals, but if we play for 11 months, you don’t know what’s going to happen in a few months.
"So I, kind of, try to only look at the first part of the year, and then switch to second.
"Split it up because if I’m going to think in a broader horizon and think about next 11 months, then I’m going to already be tired after one week thinking that the season is so long."
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