Paolini edges Sakkari in Cincinnati; Kostyuk withdraws, Swiatek through

There were mixed fortunes for seeded players as Day 4 of the Cincinnati Open got under way with a series of nailbiting matches.

No. 7 Jasmine Paolini advanced in two fluctuating tiebreak sets, 7-6(2), 7-6(5) over Maria Sakkari. However, No. 17 Belinda Bencic fell 6-4, 7-6(0) to Veronika Kudermetova in the 11th edition of their rivalry.

Cincinnati: Draws | Scores | Order of Play

Meanwhile, No. 3 Iga Swiatek and No. 23 Jelena Ostapenko both advanced via walkover. Swiatek had been due to face No. 25 Marta Kostyuk in Monday’s third-round action, but the Ukrainian was forced to withdraw due to a right wrist injury. Ostapenko had been scheduled to face Camila Osorio in Sunday’s second-round action, but an abdominal injury ended the Colombian’s hopes before she took to the court.

Ostapenko will face either No. 15 Daria Kasatkina or Lucia Bronzetti in the third round. Swiatek will play either Sorana Cirstea or lucky loser Yuan Yue in the fourth round.

Paolini, Kudermetova take the scenic route to victory

Paolini’s last encounter with Sakkari had been a bruising 6-2, 6-1 loss in the Madrid third round in April in which the outcome rarely seemed in doubt. The rematch was the opposite: a wild ride through momentum shifts and oscillating fortunes that could have tipped either way. Paolini sped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set, only for Sakkari to save four set points — with one clean forehand winner and three unreturned serves — as she battled back to force a tiebreak. But despite the swing in momentum towards Sakkari, it was Paolini who dominated it as the Greek player repeatedly sent the ball long.

The second set reached a tiebreak via more conventional means as neither player was broken, but once again Sakkari lapsed into error once there. But with Paolini standing at 6-0 with sextuple match point, the Italian netted a volley into the open court — and Sakkari roared back to save the first five match points. But with just one more to go to level at 6-6, Sakkari double faulted for the second time in the tiebreak to send Paolini through.

The pair’s head-to-head is now level at two wins apiece, with Paolini winning both of their hard-court meetings and Sakkari triumphing twice on clay. Paolini will next face No. 26 seed Ashlyn Krueger, who also came through a see-saw battle, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 over Anastasija Sevastova.

Kudermetova’s upset of Bencic, her fifth Top 20 win of 2025, wasn’t quite as dramatic. Nonetheless, the World No. 36 had to come from 3-1 down in the first set, winning five of the next six games, and then hold off a late Bencic charge from 5-3 in the second set. Kudermetova came up with the more spectacular plays when it mattered, including a pair of remarkable angled backhand passes at full stretch, one in each set.

Like Sakkari, Bencic played her best tennis with her back to the wall to force a tiebreak, but once there delivered flat, error-strewn tennis. Kudermetova will next face Montreal semifinalist Clara Tauson after the No. 16 seed defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4 in 2 hours and 23 minutes.

Bencic and Kudermetova have now played each other 11 times at pro level since 2018. Bencic still leads the head-to-head 5-4 (and 3-2 on outdoor hard courts).