Pegula and Gauff Advance to Historic All-American Final

MASON, Ohio — Jessica Pegula rallied from a break down in the final set to defeat defending champion Iga Swiatek 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday, setting up the first all-American women's final at the Cincinnati Open in 56 years. Coco Gauff joined her by dispatching unseeded Czech Sara Bejlek 6-4, 6-1.

The last time two American women met in the Cincinnati final was in 1970, when Rosie Casals beat Nancy Richey, as reported by multiple outlets including the Associated Press and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Pegula, who lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the 2024 final, will now seek her first Cincinnati title against Gauff, the 2023 champion.

Pegula's victory over Swiatek was her tour-leading 45th win of the year and the 300th tour-level victory of her career, according to the Associated Press. It also ended Swiatek's 10-match winning streak. The match lasted two hours and 47 minutes, with rain briefly interrupting play at 1-1 in the first set, as reported by The Straits Times and Lokmat Times.

Pegula described the match as "crazy" and "really tough to get a gauge on," attributing some of the difficulty to windy conditions—a point echoed by Swiatek, who said Pegula handled the conditions better, as reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Gauff, who won 10 consecutive sets since losing the opening set to Liudmila Samsonova in the Round of 64, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, broke Bejlek three times in the second set to close out the match in 76 minutes. Bejlek, who upset top seed Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys en route to the semifinals, was playing in her first WTA 1000 semifinal.

"I'm always rooting for American tennis," Pegula said, as quoted by the Associated Press. "I like to play someone that I get along with and have a lot of respect for, like Coco. I didn't realize it was so long since we've had a double American final."

Fils and Tiafoe Make Men's Final History

On the men's side, Frances Tiafoe defeated fellow American Brandon Nakashima 7-5, 6-3, while Arthur Fils beat Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4 to set up a final that will be the first time two Black players have met in an ATP Masters 1000 final, as reported by the Associated Press.

Sunday's winner will become the third Black man to win a Masters 1000 title, joining Ben Shelton and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Tiafoe, who reached the 2024 Cincinnati final and lost to Jannik Sinner, said it was "awesome" to be part of history, as quoted by the Associated Press.

Fils, who beat Cobolli in a match delayed 45 minutes by rain and lightning, became the second French player to reach the Cincinnati final, joining Guy Forget in 1991, according to multiple reports. He is also the youngest French Masters finalist since Richard Gasquet in 2004, as noted by Malay Mail and The Manila Times.

Fils, who beat Tiafoe in their only prior meeting in Miami last year, said of his opponent: "Frances is Frances. I mean, whenever he has to show up on the big stage that's where he plays his best," as quoted by the Associated Press.

Rain Disruptions and Rankings Impact

The semifinal session was disrupted by rain, which suspended play for about 34 minutes before resuming, as reported by Heavy. The tournament confirmed the stoppage around 1:44 p.m. EDT and announced at 2:18 p.m. that play would resume. Additional rain delays affected both the Fils-Cobolli match and the Pegula-Swiatek match.

Swiatek's loss means she will drop from fifth to eighth in the world rankings, according to Malay Mail. Her quarterfinal against Elena Rybakina ended early when Rybakina retired with a left ankle injury, as reported by WTA Tennis and Al Jazeera. Rybakina, who needed to reach the final to take the World No. 1 ranking, will now see Sabalenka retain the top spot.

Swiatek, who won the Toronto Masters last week, said after Rybakina's retirement that she hoped the Kazakh would be ready for the US Open. "Health is always the priority," she told Al Jazeera.