Iga Swiatek really showed her strength as she made it to the finals of the 2025 Cincinnati Open, highlighting the resilience and smart strategies that have been a big part of her journey. The Polish star, now a five-time Grand Slam champion, tackled the sweltering heat and faced some tough competitors to make it to the championship match, where she was looking to snag her first title in Cincinnati.

She had a smooth journey, winning in straight sets against Anna Kalinskaya and Elena Rybakina. So, during the heat of the tournament, Swiatek ended up having this pretty awkward moment on the court while doing a post-match interview.

As The Tennis Letter pointed out in their viral X post, things got a bit strange when Swiatek, looking a bit distracted, jumped in during the interview to ask, “Wait… is that rain?” However, the interviewer replied straightforwardly, “No, it’s probably me spitting on you while I’m asking a question.”

The whole situation was pretty awkward, especially considering the tough conditions players were dealing with in Cincinnati. The extreme heat had already led to some retirements, and earlier in the week, we even saw Arthur Rinderknech collapse. Swiatek’s openness and her interactions during matches have definitely caught attention before.

Earlier, she casually pointed out some officiating biases after a heated match with Aryna Sabalenka at Roland Garros, saying, “I don’t think that was fair,” while talking about the inconsistent umpire decisions. After securing her final booth, however, Swiatek was quite candid with the Cincinnati audience.

Iga Swiatek loves the place and is ready for the next big thing

If Iga Swiatek takes home the title in Cincinnati, she’ll rack up 7,933 points, which would put her 59 points ahead of her American rival, Coco Gauff. Indeed, this is a huge shift in the rankings! Swiatek is really aiming to reclaim her top position after Gauff’s surprising quarterfinal loss to Jasmine Paolini. Swiatek’s path to the final has really highlighted her knack for adapting, especially in her semifinal match against Rybakina.

Eventually, Swiatek took the match with a score of 7-5, 6-3. After her semifinal win, the Polish tennis star took a moment to talk about the Cincinnati crowd, mixing a bit of humility with some quiet confidence, saying, “Yes, for sure. I feel the love here and it’s a great place to be. And yeah, people of Cincinnati are so nice and anywhere we go, we feel like even though we’re here to play and everybody kind of knows us, we feel like we can have peace and just relax when we’re off the court. So thank you guys for coming and cheering for us and see you tomorrow.”

You can definitely sense the excitement in the air with Swiatek getting ready for the final. If she wins, it wouldn’t just be her first Cincinnati title; it would also position her as Sabalenka’s top rival going into the US Open. For Gauff, dropping from the No. 2 spot could really add some pressure to make a strong comeback in New York. We’ll just have to wait and see if Swiatek can really shake up the rankings.