The WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati reaches its business end with four compelling quarterfinal matches on Friday including two clashes between world top 10 players. The top half of the draw features a heavyweight showdown between world number one Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, while third seed Iga Swiatek faces a tricky test against in-form Anna Kalinskaya. The bottom half promises equally intriguing encounters with Coco Gauff meeting Jasmine Paolini in a rematch of their WTA 1000 Rome final, and an all-qualifier clash between Varvara Gracheva and Veronika Kudermetova determining the tournament's Cinderella story.

Sabalenka vs. Rybakina

Aryna Sabalenka extended her impressive record of consecutive wins in Cincinnati to 8 with a 6-1 7-5 victory over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, becoming the first player to register 50 wins on the WTA Tour this season. The Spaniard, fresh off her surprising quarterfinal run in Montreal last week, initially looked overwhelmed by the center court atmosphere but significantly raised her level in the second set. At 4-5, Sabalenka had to dig deep to save her service game - a typical scenario for the world number one who has made a habit of elevating her game when it matters most. For Bouzas Maneiro, this felt like a classic 'first marquee match' for a player on the rise, and she's definitely one to watch at the US Open. Sabalenka also becomes the first player to reach at least four consecutive Cincinnati quarterfinals since Simona Halep's six-year run from 2013-2018.

Elena Rybakina's victory over Madison Keys was far from pretty, especially in a first set where Keys kept finding the net while benefiting from multiple lucky net cords, and Rybakina's forehand was wildly erratic. The turning point came from nowhere at 4-4 in the second set - despite Keys nearly doubling her first serve percentage, Rybakina suddenly found clutch mode on return. The third set saw Rybakina flip a switch, dominating baseline exchanges with renewed footwork intensity and even mixing in slices effectively. Keys appeared sluggish, took a minor medical timeout, and never recovered. This marks Rybakina's third comeback victory of the week and represents her most important win over a top 10 player this year. Sabalenka holds a 7-4 head-to-head advantage. Rybakina will be keen to avenge her dreadful loss to Sabalenka in Berlin where she was 6-2 up in a decisive tiebreak just to lose the 6 points in a row allowing the world number one to steal the match in the quarterfinal of WTA 500 tournament on grass.

Swiatek vs. Kalinskaya

The Cincinnati conditions have been brutal for all players this week. Iga Swiatek looked sharp when fresh against Sorana Cirstea, hitting 11 winners in the opening 3-4 games alone, but struggled with first serve percentage as the match wore on in the oppressive heat. The extra rest from Marta Kostyuk's walkover proved crucial for maintaining her intensity as she reached her first Cincinnati quarterfinal, still chasing a first hard-court final since Indian Wells 2024 - a drought of 17 months.

Anna Kalinskaya finally broke her seven-match losing streak against Ekaterina Alexandrova in a great comeback fashon, winning from a set down to stop the losing rot against her top 20 ranked compatriot with a win by 3-6 7-6(5) 6-1. The third set started competitively until 4-1, when Alexandrova seemingly gave up, just wanting the late-night marathon to end. Credit to Kalinskaya for maintaining focus - she has a tendency to mentally check out after losing first sets, but stayed locked in throughout. However, she faces a scheduling nightmare, already complaining at social media that after finishing match against Alexandrova past midnight and getting to her hotel in the early hours, she's been scheduled first at 11:00 AM next day against a well-rested Swiatek.

Paolini vs. Gauff

Coco Gauff looks like progressing before for her US Open title defense after a clinical 6-2 6-4 dismantling of Lucia Bronzetti. The Italian played a particularly poor service game at 4-5 in the second set - a sure recipe for disaster against a focused Gauff. Bronzetti showed flashes in the second set, quietly establishing herself as Italy's number two, but needs to significantly beef up that serve to compete with elite players. The world numer 2 has limited the amount of simple errors including just 3 double faults (in Canada she was able to commit 23 and 14 in three-sets matches, last encounter against Xin Yu Wang delivered 8 double faults). Bronzetti has nothing to look for there with winning just 22% of second serve points. This marks Gauff's 19th WTA 1000 quarterfinal before turning 22 - third-most in the format's history.

Jasmine Paolini dominated the Wimbledon final rematch against Barbora Krejcikova, winning 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour. Despite playing without a permanent coach after recently parting ways with Renzo Furlan, Paolini has shown impressive form this week. The Italian is bidding to reach her first WTA 1000 semifinal on hard courts. Gauff and Paolini are tied 2-2 in their head-to-head, with the Italian winning their last two meetings on clay, including the Rome final in Rome.

Gracheva vs. Kudermetova

Veronika Kudermetova's serve has been clicking all week in Cincinnati, and her newfound confidence is showing. She defeated Magda Linette 6-4 6-3, converting 4 of 5 break points and firing 22 winners past the Pole who had stunned fourth seed Jessica Pegula. Kudermetova is practically guaranteed US Open seeding now, sitting at 33 in live rankings with Badosa and Zheng confirmed out of New York.

Varvara Gracheva completed a remarkable comeback to defeat fellow qualifier Ella Seidel 2-6 6-1 6-1, reaching her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal after winning six matches this week through qualifying. The 25-year-old will return to the Top 100 rankings next week regardless of Friday's result. Kudermetova holds a perfect 2-0 head-to-head record against Gracheva, including a dominant 6-1 6-0 victory in Monastir 2022. The winner will become the tournament's ultimate Cinderella story, though Kudermetova's superior firepower makes her the logical favorite.