On Saturday, the Western & Southern Open finalists were revealed. Two well-known American hopefuls, John Isner and Sloane Stephens had their chances but their Cincy title journey would end.

[2] Simona Halep (Romania) d [WC] Sloane Stephens (USA) 6-2 6-1

Sloane Stephens rolled into Cincy to play her fourth tournament since returning to the tour. She worked thru a lengthy recovery after foot surgery. Concerning her physical condition, Sloane had this to say, “I think I’m in a good place…a good position. I’m actually playing really well. I’m just happy that my foot is okay and that I can run and things are good.” Speaking about her recovery period she said, “I think I just missed competing, being out on court..Yeah, just being able to travel every week and go to cities that I love.” With the U. S. Open weeks away, Sloane is building momentum just in time for her arrival in the Big Apple.

A dominant Simona Halep advanced over the wild card, Stephens, 6-2 6-1. Simona had this to say about her own health after beating Brit Jo Konta, “I’m healthy. I can move. I’m not thinking about anything on my body, so I just go for it. I worked more, I can say, and I worked every day. So I don’t have days off, because before, after a good result, like four days, I was just chilling. But now I just try to change that. I’m more professional, and I really want to see where is my limit.” A Cincy title will come with a lovely bonus, the No. 1 WTA ranking. Huge motivation and high pressure.

[4] Garbiñe Muguruza (Spain) d [1] Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-2

The WTA world No. 1, Karolina Pliskova and Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza took center court first. With a final score of 6-3 6-2 in favor of Muguruza. On paper, this match looked even if not in favor of the service queen and stellar returner, Pliskova. However, wear and tear were a factor as Karolina had to play a doubleheader on Friday first taking out Camilla Giorgi followed by grinder Caroline Wozniacki. And Garbine held on to her belief and stayed calm.

Muguruza credited her cool head with enabling her to be, “…very precise with my shots…I wanted to be more aggressive …don’t think about her because I know she played very aggressive as well. kept her game on point.” She showed every element of a Wimbledon Champion stating, “I felt pretty good out there and in control. Everything was going my way (smile).”

The final: Simona against Halep

With the performances and determination that both ladies have shown this week, this match should be a complete throw-down and possibly one of the best of the year.

ATP in Cincy

Cincy is playing out much like the London ATP Queen’s Club event. Yes, “top” seeds withdrew or lost in earlier rounds but the quality of the matches remained high. This outcome reflects the broader strength of the ATP tour. The Big-4 were dominant for so many years that fans and media developed very narrow tunnel vision and always expected a certain “Big-4” outcome. In a real sense, we developed a “habit” of dismissing the rest of the tour.

And while it was a mistake then, today the mistake is magnified. Two well-fought semi-final matches wowed the crowds at the Lindner Family Tennis Center without any of the Big-4. The scores were nearly identical, both 7-6 7-6, except for the breaker points, Isner-Dimitrov and Kyrgios-Ferrer. John and Grigor had a flawless week with no sets dropped prior to the semi. Now, Dimitrov remains on point.

The men’s final is an occasion of firsts for both players. Neither has captured the Cincy title. Cincy is Nick’s 1st 2017 final and could be Dimitrov’s first Masters 1000 title. It has been a while since the Western & Southern Open has had and Aussie finalist. Go back in time to 2004, Lleyton “Rusty” Hewitt and even further for an Aussie champion, Pat Rafter, 1998.

[7] Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) d [14] John Isner (USA) 7-6(4) 7-6(10)

John Isner’s loss to Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov was a stinger, 7-6(4) 7-6(10). Despite this, John was in good spirits during press. Of course, this semi is a tough loss. During this and prior pressers, Isner talked about taking the good things and knows that he competed well and that’s all he can ask of himself. He racked up 72% 1st serve percentage and won 75% of those points, won 70% of 2nd serves and saved the only break point he faced.

As the score indicates, Isner was unable to break thru Dimitrov’s service games with a 1st return points won percentage of 17%. The tie-breakers are a bit of a puzzle as typically the bigger server is favored. But today Dimitrov was too good and won 83% of 1st serve points. He took charge in the 1st set breaker and once he captured the lead, he never let go. With the 1st set in his pocket, the pressure valve was slightly released as the Bulgarian faced the 2nd set breaker.

Nick Kyrgios (Australia) d David Ferrer (Spain) 7-6(3) 7-6(4)

Kyrgios scored an impressive win over David Ferrer. Taking on Nick Kyrgios in the final, Grigor can expect a similar type of battle. At the very least he must sustain or even elevate his level as Nick has left an impressive list of fallen men in his wake, David Goffin, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ivo Karlovic, Rafael Nadal and Cincy crowd favorite, David Ferrer. The slim margins in both semi-finals brought fans to their feet. In press, Kyrgios spoke of how playing Ferrer was a “nightmare.” This was high praise for the Spaniard’s fighting spirit and ability to make anyone feel pressure. Nick also reflected on his years as a junior and coaching advice from David. Without question, the feedback, “learn how to suffer,” was the standout.

Doubles In-Focus

On the doubles court, we saw the cream rise to the top with the following results. The dynamic duo, Martina Hingis & Yung-Jan Chan captured their 5th 2017 title.

WTA DOUBLES - CHAMPIONSHIP

[2] Yung-Jan Chan (Chinese Taipei) / Martina Hingis (Switzerland) d Su-Wei Hsieh (Chinese Taipei) / Monica Niculescu (Romania) 4-6 6-4 10-7

ATP DOUBLES - SEMIFINAL ROUND

[3] Jamie Murray (Great Britain) / Bruno Soares (Brazil) d Lukasz Kubot (Poland) / Marcelo Melo (Brazil) 6-4 7-5

[5] Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France) / Nicolas Mahut (France) d Ryan Harrison (USA) / Michael Venus (New Zealand) 6-4 7-6(9)

The men’s doubles final takes place Sunday on the Grandstand at 12:15 PM. This is one not to miss. Singles takes center stage starting 2 PM with ladies first.