Cincinnati Masters
Iga calls out the haters after dropping a set in Cincy
Iga Swiatek needed a set to find her game, with the top seed ultimately prevailing 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 over China’s Zheng Qinwen to reach the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.
The player who has stood atop the WTA rankings for 72 weeks and counting did not have a perfect performance, though she did score a comfortable win as usual.
But Swiatek took time to call out haters who regularly voice their anonymous opinions on social media.
“The amount of hate and criticism that me and my team get after even losing a set is just ridiculous,” the top seed said..
“I want to encourage people to be more thoughtful when they comment on Internet.”
Swiatek added: “Seeing everything that’s going on on the Internet after some days when I don’t play my best tennis and just have a little bit worse performance..
“I feel it would be such a better place if we didn’t judge each other so quickly.”
Swiatek changed her dress after losing the first set, saying the clothing swap made all the difference mentally.
“My coach told me a few weeks ago it might be a good idea to change clothes and reset..
“I tried it and it worked, I got a different vibe in the second set – thank you, coach.”
Swiatek added: “I’d love to play two-setters, but for sure today wasn’t easy. The conditions were tricky with the wind.
“I haven’t played didn’t play a lot of matches on (Grandstand) stadium, so I also needed to kind of get used to it visually.
“But I’m happy that I problem-solved. In the second and third sets I played much better and was much more solid.”
ATP
Sinner claims full house with Indian Wells win
World No. 2 Jannik Sinner became the youngest man to complete the full set of hard-court victories by beating Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (8) 7-6 (7) in the searing heat of Indian Wells.
The 24 year old Italian, didn’t face a break point during the final nor did he drop a set on his way to claiming his first title of the year and his 25th overall.
Sinner has won both hard court Grand Slams, with victories at the Australian Open in 2024 and 2025 and at the US Open in 2024.
In addition he has lifted all six Masters 1000 series hard court titles – adding the Indian Wells title to victories in Miami, Toronto, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris plus the season-ending ATP Finals.
Only Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have achieved the same feat.
Main photo:- Jannik Sinner lifts Indian Wells Trophy – by ATPTour.com
ATP
FAA raises his “standards” to extend QF hot streak
Felix Auger-Aliassime bounced back after a slow start, with the Canadian raiding his game along with his expectations on Wednesday at the ATP Dubai event.
The top seed survived the loss of his opening serve to prevail 6-4, 6-4 over France’s Giovanni Mpetschi Perricard.
Victory marked the 10th quarter-final or higher at 11 tournament for FAA dating to Cincinnati last August.
The seed’s game is on the mend after a hiccup in the form of an Australian Open first-round loss, with FAA winning the Montpellier title and reaching this month’s Rotterdam final against Alex de Minaur.
Auger-Aliassime said that he tries to set an example to his team by way of keeping his tennis standards high.
“I’m responsible, I’m the one stepping onto the court – I’m the (support) team leader.
“I need to uphold the standards I want for my career.”
The winner who broke three times, said the ball reacted differently as he played for the first time in the afternoon.
“I couldn’t find my serve in the first few games, I needed to get some rhythm. he also made it difficult for me. I’m glad I was able to find a way back into the set.
The Canadian No. 1 improved his record against French opponents to 15-1 since the start of 2025.
ATP
The heat is on as ATP bows to weather reality
The ATP has bowed to the inevitability of weather, with a new heat rule for men’s matches due to be put into place for the start of the 2026 season.
While the WTA has long provided a pause after the second set of matches played in extreme hot weather, that’ not been the general case for the men.
Now, players will get a break when temps and humidity factors reach 30.1 C (86.18 F) or higher in the first two sets of a best-of-three-setter.
That triggers a 10-minute cooling break which can be called by either payer and which will apply to both. Competitors can use the brief pause to hydrate, change clothes, shower and receive coaching.
Should the heat exceed 32.2 C the match is called off.
.The new policy will replace the previous system where ATP tournament supervisors made the call with input from on-site medical staff.
The ATP will now fall into line with the WTA system as well as that of the four Grand Slams.
The tipping point came last season, when Jannik Sinner had to quit his third-round October match in Shanghai due to heat exhaustion in admittedly freak conditions for China in the autumn.
Novak Djokovic vomited during a match while France’s Ugo Humbert said players could “die on court” due to the torrid conditions. At the August Masters in steamy Cincinnati, Arthur Rinderknech collapsed on court, another data point which apparently led to the policy change
Main photo US Open New York 06/09/2023 Daniil Medvedev cools down
Photo Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
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