The Clash Between Sabalenka and Rybakina, Swiatek, and Gracheva: Friday, August 15 Schedule in Cincinnati
This Friday, the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati continues in Ohio. On the schedule, the quarterfinals of the 2025 edition in the singles draw will take place. Starting at 5 PM, Iga Swiatek will face Anna Kalinskaya.
The two players have only met once before, in the semifinals of last year's WTA 1000 in Dubai, where the Russian pulled off a surprising victory (6-4, 6-4).
Following that, the marquee matchup of these quarterfinals between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina will determine the opponent for Swiatek or Kalinskaya in the semifinals. This will be the 12th meeting between the two on the main tour.
So far, the current world No. 1 leads 7-4 in their head-to-head but had to fight hard in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 in Berlin last June (7-6, 3-6, 7-6), saving four match points in the decisive third-set tiebreak.
In the evening, one of the last two semifinal spots will be contested between Varvara Gracheva and Veronika Kudermetova, around 10:30 PM French time on the Grandstand.
The Frenchwoman, who will play her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal of her career, will attempt to reach the semifinals against the Russian. Kudermetova leads their head-to-head 2-0, but their last meeting dates back to 2022.
Finally, Jasmine Paolini and Coco Gauff will take the court on Center Court late Friday night into Saturday. The two top-10 players, tied 2-2 in their head-to-head, have faced off twice this year, with the Italian winning both.
The most recent encounter was in the final of the WTA 1000 in Rome last May, where Paolini triumphed in front of her home crowd. Below, find the full schedule for the day in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati 
