Iga Swiatek's great summer is paying off in many ways as the Polish tennis star has already secured her ticket for the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
On Sunday, Swiatek defeated Elena Rybakina 7-5 6-3 to reach the final of the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. Before Cincy, the world No. 3 won her maiden Wimbledon title and she also finished as runner-up at the WTA 500 event in Bad Homburg. While the Pole didn't win any titles during the clay swing, she was a French Open and Madrid semifinalist.
By beating Rybakina and making the Cincinnati title match, Swiatek improved to 6,753 ranking points in 2025 - the only player with more points is Aryna Sabalenka, who stands at 7,610. After the Pole, Coco Gauff comes at third spot with 4,944 points and the American is the next in line to secure a Riyadh ticket.
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Swiatek set for her fifth consecutive WTA Finals appearance
In 2021, Swiatek made her maiden appearance at the prestigious season-ending tournament. That year, the Pole went 1-2 and didn't make it past the group stage. The following year, the former world No. 1 made the semifinal at the season-ending event before winning her maiden title at the tournament in 2023.
Last year, in the inaugural WTA Finals in Riyadh edition, Swiatek won two of her three meetings but still didn't make it past the group phase. This year, the 24-year-old will certainly look to make amends and do better in the Riyadh event, which is slated to take place between November 1-8.
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But for now, Swiatek's focus is on the Cincinnati final, where she plays against seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini. In the past, the Pole and Paolini once met in a final and the world No. 1 dominated 6-2 6-1 in the 2024 French Open title match. Overall, the six-time Grand Slam winner has five wins and zero losses against the Italian.
