Iga Swiatek‘s 10-match winning streak came to an end against Jessica Pegula in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters. The match went down to the wire and was a very close affair, but the local hero eventually prevailed 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. After losing the first set, Swiatek’s frustration started to mount in the opening stages of the second. But her coaching team members came up with an important piece of advice at the right time and helped her calm down.

While leading the set 1-0, 0-15, Swiatek flung her arms in the air after losing a point. She was heard saying, “I can’t move my feet that fast.” But her psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, wasn’t too happy with her behavior. “Don’t wave your arms, Iga — just go for the next ball. Come on, forward, all in!” she replied.

With the set level at 1-1, 40-40, Swiatek’s performance and conditioning coach, Maciej Ryszczuk, advised her to control her emotions and get a hold of herself. “You’re rushing the movement, be more calm. Keep the rhythm. You have a lot of time.”

The advice appeared to have worked for Swiatek as she regained her composure and ensured the match went into a decider by winning the second set. But she failed to contain Pegula in the final set as the American marched into her second final in Cincinnati. Not to mention that this was her third consecutive three-set win in the competition.

Pegula has a win-loss record of 17-5 in three-setters this year and a record of 11-2 on the hard courts. The World No. 3 now trails in the H2H record by 6-7 against Swiatek with her latest triumph. Though the Pole had defeated her earlier this year at the Rome Masters, she has bounced back brilliantly in her home event.

It is safe to say that Swiatek could have gotten a better result if she had control over her serve. For context, she handed two breaks to Pegula through double faults. The match featured a total of 13 breaks, with Pegula clinching seven of them.

Pegula was under pressure in the final set at one stage as she trailed Swiatek 3-1. But completed a superb comeback and gained two breaks of serve. The decisive moment of the match came in the ninth game of the decider when Pegula converted her final break of the set after Swiatek served up her seventh double fault of the match.

Swiatek admitted after the match that she found it tough to serve under the windy conditions in Cincinnati.

Iga Swiatek admits that serving mistakes proved to be costly against Jessica Pegula

“Well, I think we’re both better returners than servers, but also it was tougher to serve with this wind,” Iga Swiatek said in the post-match press conference. “I felt like I mishit many balls with my serve, so maybe that was the thing about it. But I think we’re both returning well, so we were putting pressure on each other.”

Despite the defeat, Swiatek will be brimming with confidence heading into the US Open. She has had a phenomenal start to the hard-court season. Though it may not be her preferred surface, she has pretty much rediscovered her form on it. She first clinched the title in Toronto after defeating players like Marta Kostyuk, Diana Shnaider, Elina Svitolina, and Elena Rybakina.

Swiatek then defeated Maria Sakkari and got the better of Rybakina again on her way to the semifinals in Cincinnati. Having last clinched the US Open title in 2022, the Pole will be hoping to end the wait and triumph for the second time.

On the other hand, Pegula has set up an all-American clash against Coco Gauff in the final of the Cincinnati Masters. The two had previously played at Wimbledon, where Gauff had triumphed 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Though Pegula currently leads the H2H record by 5-4, the final is expected to be a very close affair indeed and could go in anyone’s favor.