Eight Thoughts on the Elite Eight

A DEEP-DIVE LOOK AT THE CINCY QUARTERS

By Richard Osborn

1 | SABALENKA VS. RYBAKINA IS BLOCKBUSTER STUFF

Since their epic three-set final at the 2023 Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina have quietly built one of the most compelling, hard-hitting rivalries in tennis. The two have squared off on 11 occasions now, with the world No. 1 Sabalenka holding a 7-4 edge, though they have seesawed their last six encounters. If you like power tennis, you won’t want to miss their quarterfinal clash at the Cincinnati Open. Sabalenka comes into the match with a tour-best 50 wins on the season. Of her three titles in 2025, two have come at the WTA 1000 level (Miami, Madrid). The defending champion is attempting to join Serena Williams (2014-15) and Victoria Azarenka (2013, 2020) as the only two-time champions in tournament history. A quarterfinalist here in 2022, Rybakina now owns 22 wins over Top-10 opponents after dispatching American Madison Keys in the Round of 16, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2.

2 | BIG BEN RIDES WIN STREAK INTO CINCY QUARTERS

With a 6-4, 6-4 dismissal of Czech Jiri Lehecka, Toronto champ Ben Shelton extended his career-best win streak to nine matches. “Tennis is that way sometimes: You’re on winning streak, sometimes you’re on a losing streak. It’s just life; it’s the game that we play. Right now, I’m just trying to stay locked in, to take advantage of the confidence that I feel, the way that I’m playing, the way that I’m competing. I want to sustain that level. I feel really fresh right now, really good about the improvements that I’ve made in my game. I’m just looking forward to every match to get a little bit better than the match before.” It doesn’t get any easier from here for the world No. 6. Next up is 2021 Cincy winner Alexander Zverev, against whom the American is a winless 0-3. “Great server, great returner, very solid baseliner and he moves extremely well. He’s fit,” said Shelton. “He does a lot of things really well. That’s the reason that he’s been at the top of the game for as long as he has, and why he’s had so much success. I think it’s a great challenge for me.”

3 | JASMINE VS. COCO REMATCH ON TAP

The only player ranked in the Top 10 in both singles and doubles on the WTA Tour, Jasmine Paolini spends more time on the court than many of her colleagues. But the 29-year-old Italian says she’s plenty energized for what will be a rematch of her 2023 Cincinnati Open quarterfinal with Coco Gauff. (Gauff won that match, 6-3, 6-2, then went on to the title, but has dropped their last two head-to-heads.) “She likes to play here in the U.S., and she’s an amazing player, so it’s going to be a tough challenge,” said Paolini, a Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist last year. “But I will try to do my best to play a great match.” Will the 5-foot-4 Rome champ play with all-out aggression, or instead show patience from the baseline? “I think I have to find the balance, because she’s defending really well. I don’t have to rush. I have to try to move her, to be aggressive, as well. I think the key is between being patient and waiting to be aggressive.”

4 | GRACHEVA BRINGS A PAINTERLY APPROACH

How does a qualifier sneak through to the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000? With an elite mix of aggression and steadiness off the ground. It’s a rare combo, one that 25-year-old Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva has pulled off with aplomb through six matches at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The baseliner upended 24th seed Sofia Kenin and 11th seed Karolina Muchova en route to the Round of 16, where she prevailed in a surprise all-qualifier battle with German Ella Seidel, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. She is the first qualifier to reach the quarters in Cincinnati since Jasmine Paolini in 2023. An artist herself, Gracheva is a fan of Van Gogh, especially the Post-Impressionist work, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. “I’m easily inspired by things, but I’m fascinated with the style he got in the last third of his life. I just love it. It’s interesting, his vision of this world. Artists, we paint what we see and how we see it. I feel a lot of similarities, how I see things.”

5 | ‘BRAVER’ IGA FLASHING RETOOLED SERVE

Coach Wim Fissette has six-time Slam champ Iga Swiatek flashing a bit more flat-ball power from the service stripe these days. The No. 3 seed from Poland, who will face Anna Kalinskaya in the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals, says when it came to tweaking her serve, it was a matter of trusting the process. “I’m always the kind of player that needs to see the proof,” she said. “If the serves are actually going to go in, I will be convinced. When I started working with Wim, I didn’t believe that I could serve [115 mph, 110 mph] consistently. I think he helped me with reaching this higher speed. We were working a lot of hours on precision. I used it really well at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Now I need to find it again with these balls here. But I think I’m more brave with my decisions. I wouldn’t say there were any hurdles, I just kind of needed to believe it.”

6 | KUDERMETOVA KEEPING IT SIMPLE

The potential was there for all to see when Veronika Kudermetova broke through on the green clay of Charleston with a first tour-level singles title in 2021. While she has since enjoyed more success on the doubles court, the former world No. 9 is still flashing elite skills in singles, something she showed during a January run to the Round of 16 at the Australian Open. Through to her first Cincinnati Open quarterfinal, the 28-year-old has earned a first-time showdown with French qualifier Varvara Gracheva. “She plays a pretty fast game. In these conditions, that works pretty well,” observed Kudermetova, who has defeated multiple Top-20 opponents at the same event for the first time since taking the Tokyo crown in 2023. “I’m sure it will be a challenge for me. I’ll try to do the simple things, try to show my best tennis. It’s another opportunity for me.”

7 | QUALIFIER ATMANE’S DREAM RUN LEADS TO SEMIS

It’s been the stuff of dreams for qualifier Terence Atmane, who on Thursday night notched his second Top-10 win of the tournament, a 6-2, 6-3 upset of seventh seed Holger Rune. At No. 136, he became the lowest-ranked player to earn multiple Top-10 wins at the same event since No. 152 Borna Coric earned three en route to the 2022 Cincinnati Open title. The 23-year-old Frenchman, who has endeared himself to locals by flashing everything from a Reds jersey to a Ken Griffey, Jr. T-shirt to a Bengals good-luck charm, has called his run “the best days of my life.” Only the fourth qualifier to reach the Cincy men’s semis in the Open Era, he now gets a shot at world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. “It’s crazy, because I came here to get a couple of matches on the hard courts to prepare for the US Open,” said Atmane, who signed autographs for 10 minutes straight after his ousting of Rune on P&G Center Court. “I’m very grateful to be here. I’m grateful also to the people around me who came here from all around the world, traveling with me full time. It’s important to thank them for all the shadow work they are doing behind the scenes. It couldn’t have been a better week. And the week isn’t done, the job is not done yet.”

8 | CARLOS TAKES INSPIRATION FROM JIMMY BUCKETS

It makes sense that Carlos Alcaraz will follow up the Cincinnati Open and US Open with the Laver Cup, which this year will be played at the Chase Center in San Francisco, home to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Alcaraz, after all, counts Dubs forward Jimmy Butler amongst his close friends. “He loves tennis,” said Alcaraz, a finalist here in 2023. “The first time that I met him, he was in Buenos Aires on his vacation, his holidays, and he’s a huge fan of tennis. He came to watch one of my matches. I just started to be more in touch with him after that. I’ve been to a few of his games. I had dinner with him. He’s a really nice guy outside to the court. I admire him as an athlete, so it’s great to be in touch with him.”