Iga Świątek

Iga Swiatek was recently accused of gamesmanship during her third round match against Maria Sakkari at the Cincinnati Open.

Iga Swiatek's struggles early in the 2026 season seem like a distant memory the way she is competing this summer. The seventh seed and defending Cincinnati Open champion shook off a stellar first set by Greece's Maria Sakkari and rallied to edge the No.

Iga Swiatek faces Maria Sakkari in the WTA Cincinnati Open 2026 Round of 32. Check their head-to-head record, match time, live streaming details and where to watch the blockbuster WTA clash. The post Iga Swiatek vs Maria Sakkari Live Streaming: WTA Cincinnati Open 2026 Round Of 32 Match Start Time, Head-To-Head, Where To Watch appeared first on The Sunday Guardian .

Seventh-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland had the briefest of slow starts, but she quickly put it into overdrive and overwhelmed Colombia’s Emiliana Arango 6-3, 6-0 to open her Cincinnati Open title defense Sunday in Mason, Ohio. The world’s No. 5 player had to adjust to different playing conditions on a short turnaround from her championship run at the National Bank Open in Toronto, which didn’t end until Thursday. Swiatek endured 17 unforced errors in the first set, but she settled down and only recorded four in the second set. But Swiatek scored her seventh straight match win with a 72-minute victory, winning seven of eight service games and five of seven return games in the romp. “I’m happy that I was patient and came back in the second set knowing what to improve,” Swiatek said. She’ll face Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the round of 32. Things didn’t come as easily in the second round for No. 4 seed Coco Gauff, who dug herself an early hole but rallied for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova. After Gauff was broken twice in the first set – including in the first game of the match – she saved both break-point chances she faced over the final two sets. The American, coming off a run to the semifinals in Toronto, overcame winning just 36% of her second-serve points by winning 81% of her first-serve points and 54% of her second-return points. No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus took care of business in her opener with a 6-2, 7-6 (2) defeat of Australia’s Talia Gibson. Sabalenka failed to convert five match-point chances in her final service game but still managed to win the tiebreaker with ease, finishing the match with 13 aces. “Talia played great tennis and was more aggressive in the second set,” Sabalenka said. “She put more pressure on my service games. I’m glad I stayed calm and pulled it out in straight sets.” Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, seeded second, also had an easy time with American Taylor Townsend, winning 6-3, 6-4. Rybakina was dominant on second serves, winning 23 of her 32 points there (71.9%). Fifth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia also coasted, downing Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova 6-1, 6-0 in 64 minutes. Andreeva saved all seven break points she faced. In the final match of the day, No. 8 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine overcame adversity, rallying for a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-0 defeat of Czech Tereza Valentova. Other Sunday winners included Americans Ann Li, Iva Jovic, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys; Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova, Katerina Siniakova and Sara Bejlek; Indonesia’s Janice Tjen; Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk; China’s Xiyu Wang; and Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova.

The clay swing ended with Mirra Andreeva crowned as her first Grand Slam champion, and the WTA Race has significant movements, after the teenager — recent champion of Roland Garros — took over first place in the WTA Race to Riyadh, moving further ahead of Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.

The conclusion of the 2026 French Open tournament brought a significant change to the WTA Rankings, with Mirra Andreeva propelling to the top and Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek left outside the qualif