Jessica Pegula clawed her way past defending champion Iga Swiatek in a three-set marathon on Saturday, booking a Cincinnati Masters final against fellow American Coco Gauff.
World number three Pegula triumphed 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in a match she described as “crazy,” needing nearly three hours to subdue the Polish star in blustery, unpredictable conditions in the US city.
“A lot of back and forth, a lot of breaks,” Pegula said. “Really windy, kind of odd conditions. I felt like we were playing well and then not playing well. It was really tough to kind of get a gauge on the match.”
The pair traded breaks and re-breaks throughout, with Pegula eventually grabbing a 5-4 lead in the final set. Swiatek saved three break points before double faulting on a fourth, and Pegula closed out the match with a service winner on her first match point.
“I was just really happy with the way I was able to kind of handle just a lot that was going on today,” the 31-year-old American said. “I did a good job no matter what was happening.”
Swiatek, who arrived in Cincinnati fresh off her first title of 2026 in Toronto, had won the tournament last year and was bidding for a second straight crown. The match, delayed by rain before it began and briefly interrupted two games in, featured the first five games going against the server as both players struggled to adjust.
Pegula held at love for a 4-2 lead, but Swiatek answered by taking the next three games. Pegula broke again and sealed the opening set when Swiatek smacked a volley into the net on set point. After they exchanged two breaks in the second set, Swiatek broke in the final game to force a decider.
Pegula will now face Gauff, the 2023 Cincinnati champion, in Sunday night’s all American final. Gauff powered past unseeded Czech Sara Bejlek 6-4, 6-1, ending the 19-year-old’s remarkable run that included a fourth round upset of world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
The men’s final will feature American Frances Tiafoe against France’s Arthur Fils. Fils charged into his first Masters 1000 final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli in a match delayed 45 minutes by rain and lightning.
Tiafoe, runner-up to Jannik Sinner in Cincinnati in 2024, returned to the final with a 7-5, 6-3 win over fellow American Brandon Nakashima. He saved three set points in the opening set and broke Nakashima five times overall to close the match in less than two hours.
“It feels d*** good,” Tiafoe said, predicting a “h*** of a show” against Fils, whose 68-minute victory made him the youngest French Masters finalist since 20-year-old Richard Gasquet in Toronto two decades ago.
Fils admitted the weather delay had unsettled him. “You come on court more nervous because it’s a semi-final. The rain arrives, you wait and when you come back conditions are completely different,” he said. “It was tough, but I’m happy with how I dealt with it.”
The stage is set for a compelling Sunday night in Cincinnati, with Pegula and Gauff meeting in an all American duel before Tiafoe and Fils square off in the men’s championship.
