Queen dethroned

CINCINNATI (AFP) — Jessica Pegula rallied from a break down in the final set to topple defending champion Iga Swiatek 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday and reach the final of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.

World No. 3 Pegula needed nearly three hours to dethrone Swiatek as the duo rode a rollercoaster of breaks and re-breaks before the 31-year-old American took a 5-4 lead in the final set after Swiatek saved three break points but double-faulted on a fourth.

Pegula quickly closed it out, firing a service winner on match point to reach Sunday's championship match in the US Open tune-up.

"Crazy match today," Pegula said.

"A lot of back and forth, a lot of breaks. 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.”

"I was just really happy with the way I was able to kind of handle just a lot that was going on today. I did a good job no matter what was happening."

Pegula will face either unseeded Czech Sara Bejlek or fourth-ranked Coco Gauff in Sunday's final.

Bejlek, 20, went into their Saturday night semi-final seeking another big upset, having knocked off world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round.

France's Arthur Fils charged into the men's final, dispatching French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4 in a match delayed for 45 minutes by rain and lightning.

Swiatek and Pegula then waited out another rain delay before their match, which was also briefly interrupted two games in.

The first five games of what evolved into an epic went against the server as Pegula and Swiatek struggled to adjust to the conditions.

Swiatek blinked first as Pegula held at love for a 4-2 lead, but Swiatek won the next three games before Pegula broke again, finally taking the set when Swiatek smacked a volley into the net on set point.

They had exchanged two breaks in the second when Swiatek grabbed a lifeline and broke in the final game to square the match.

Swiatek will drop from fifth to eighth in the world after failing to defend her title, but it's been a productive August for the former world No. 1 who claimed her first title of the year in Toronto this month.

Fils booked his first ever Masters 1000 final and will face Frances Tiafoe, who beat fellow American Brandon Nakashima 7-5, 6-3.

Tiafoe saved three set points in the opening set, breaking Nakashima five times in all to earn the win in less than two hours.

"It feels damn good," said Tiafoe, who finished runner-up to Jannik Sinner in Cincinnati in 2024.

"I had some nerves, but I'm super happy. I got a good rhythm on my serve and was returning great."

The American predicted a "hell of a show" against Fils, whose 68-minute win over seventh-seeded Cobolli made him the youngest French Masters finalist since a 20-year-old Richard Gasquet in Toronto two decades ago.

Fils admitted he had been unsettled by the weather delay.

"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."

Fils recovered an early break and after breaking Cobolli for a 5-3 lead served out the first set after 25 minutes.

He stepped up his intensity to start the second set with a break, finally closing out the win with another stinging forehand winner to the corner.