Everything you need to know about the final in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI – Jessica Pegula is one win away from making history at the Cincinnati Open. The American is one win away from winning her 10th straight match and becoming the first woman in over 50 years to win titles in Toronto and Cincinnati in a single season.

Standing in her way is world No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka, who has battled her way into her third WTA 1000 final of the season. Sabalenka, who will return to No. 2 in the PIF WTA rankings on Monday, has not dropped a set in Cincinnati, including a dominant straight-sets victory over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals.

Who will emerge victorious at the eighth WTA 1000 event of the season?

Here’s what you need to know about the finale in Cincinnati.

When is the individual final?

Both Toronto and Cincinnati have postponed the start of their events to accommodate late arrivals for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and the finals have therefore been rescheduled for Monday.

The singles final will be played on Monday, August 19th at 3:00 p.m. ET.

What are the milestones on Monday?

Sabalenka is aiming for her 15th Hologic WTA Tour title and second of the season. It would be her first since defending her Australian Open title in January and her first WTA 1000 title since Madrid 2023.

Pegula is seeking her second consecutive WTA 1000 title and her seventh Hologic WTA Tour title overall. Last week in Toronto, she claimed her third WTA 1000 title, all on hard courts.

Since the tournament returned to Cincinnati in 2004, no woman has won the Canadian Open and Cincinnati in the same season. Pegula is one win away from becoming the first. Evonne Goolagong Cawley is the only woman to win both events in the Open Era, doing so in 1973.

How did Sabalenka and Pegula get here?

Sabalenka had a dominant week in Cincinnati, where she is now in the final for the first time after four semifinals. She didn’t drop a set or go into a tiebreak this week, winning in Sunday’s semifinals over Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Elina Switolina, 10th seed Liudmila Samsonova and Swiatek.

Sabalenka’s victory over Swiatek ended a three-match losing streak against the Pole and narrowed the head-to-head gap to 8-4. The win took Sabalenka into her third WTA 1000 final of the year and her first WTA 1000 final on hard court since Indian Wells 2023.

Pegula brings a nine-match winning streak into Monday’s final. After her title run at the National Bank Open last week, Pegula has quickly battled through to reach two consecutive WTA 1000 finals for the first time in her career. She dropped three sets this week and scored wins over last year’s finalist Karolina Muchova, Taylor Townsend, Leylah Fernandez and Washington DC champion Paula Badosa in the semifinals.

Pegula’s summer resurgence comes after an injury-plagued first half of the season. Pegula, a fixture at WTA 1000 tournaments, had to miss Doha, Dubai, Madrid and Rome, as well as the French Open. She returned during the grass-court season and won the title in Berlin in only her second tournament since returning.

How do they compare?

Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 4-2, but Pegula won their last meeting in group play at the WTA Finals last fall, which was their only match since 2022.

What points and prize money are at stake?

Cincinnati is the eighth of ten WTA 1000 tournaments of the season. By reaching the final, Sabalenka and Pegula secured 650 ranking points and $308,320 in prize money.

A win on Monday would give the winner a total prize of 1,000 points and $523,485.

With her results in Cincinnati, Sabalenka will overtake Coco Gauff and return to No. 2 in the PIF WTA rankings after the tournament. She is expected to be seeded No. 2 behind Iga Swiatek at the US Open. Sabalenka will also overtake Elena Rybakina and be No. 2 in the PIF rankings for the race to the WTA Finals.

Pegula, ranked 6th in the world, will return to the top 5 of the PIF WTA rankings with a win on Monday. The American started the North American summer ranked 20th in the PIF Race to the WTA Finals and will move into the top 8 after Cincinnati, even moving up to 6th place with the title.

What do they say?

Sabalenka: “It just shows that no matter what happened in the past, you can always change something and you don’t have to focus on the past. It’s really good that I was able to break through the wall in this tournament. I’m happy to be in the final, but the final is not the goal. I just want to focus on the next one.”

Sabalenka: “I would say that if I can adapt to the surface in the first matches and get those difficult wins – because in the first matches it’s quite tricky to understand the court – then of course that will give me an advantage in my serve and in my returns. But the difficult part is understanding the court in the first matches and getting those wins. As the matches go on, I feel like I can raise the level on this court.”