MASON − There are just eight players remaining and two titles up for grabs as the Cincinnati Open moves into the final weekend.
Aug. 22 is "Semifinal Saturday" with both ATP and WTA semifinals scheduled at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
The Cincinnati Open finals will be held on Sunday, Aug. 23.
Here's a breakdown of Saturday's semifinals at the Cincinnati Open by order of play.
ATP: No. 7 Flavio Cobolli vs. No. 21 Arthur Fils
1:30 p.m. scheduled start: No one can question Flavio Cobolli's stamina. So far, the top-ranked remaining player has won four consecutive three-set matches. He
also dropped the opening set in both the Round of 16 (against No. 12 Jodar) and in the quarterfinals (against No. 18 Tommy Paul) but rallied to win both.
He'll face Arthur Fils, who is looking to break through. This is his third ATP 1000 semifinal of the season, but his run stopped there in Miami (vs. Lehecka) and Madrid (vs. Sinner).
Fils knocked out a pair of top 10 seeds en route to the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals, then ended Thiago Agustin Tirante's Cinderella run in straight sets to reach the Final 4.
The winner of this match will reach their first-ever ATP 1000 final.
Fils has won both career meetings against Cobolli. The 22-year-old Frenchman won in three sets in the 2023 ATP Finals and in straight sets in the 2025 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
WTA: No. 3 Jessica Pegula vs. No. 7 Iga Swiatek
3 p.m. scheduled start: This WTA semifinal has a championship feel, probably because fans in Mason are used to Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula advancing in Cincinnati. Both top 5 players made their main draw debut at the Cincinnati Open in 2019. Since then, Swiatek is 18-6 in this event and Pegula is 17-7.
Swiatek is the hottest player in tennis right now, which just goes to show how quickly things can change on tour. She was upset at Wimbledon on July 4. Since then, she has won 10 consecutive matches after conquering Canada prior to starting the United State hard court swing in Mason. Swiatek has lost just one set across her four wins this week.
Swiatek is now two wins away from becoming the first WTA player to win back-to-back Cincinnati Open titles since Serena Williams went back-to-back in 2014-15. No player has ever won the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open back-to-back.
Swiatek should be well-rested after beating World No. 2 Elena Rybakina via walkover after just five games Aug. 20. Pegula is a different story, having won back-to-back three-set matches to reach the semifinals.
She needed an off-court medical timeout in the second set against Amanda Anisimova but was able to win the third set in a tie break in a match that lasted 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Pegula is bidding for her second Cincinnati Open finals appearance after finishing as runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in 2024. Swiatek has 12 WTA 1000 titles to Pegula's four.
Pegula won her first WTA 1000 in three years earlier this season at Dubai. Swiatek is 7-5 all-time against Pegula, including a 5-4 mark on hard courts. Pegula won the last hard-court meeting at the 2024 US Open.
ATP: No. 27 Brandon Nakashima vs. No. 17 Frances Tiafoe
6 p.m. scheduled start: An American man has not won the Cincinnati Open in 20 years (Andy Roddick). There will be at least one American playing to break the drought on Sunday after Frances Tiafoe and Brandon Nakashima moved on to the semifinals.
Tiafoe beat Italian No. 10 seed Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets in the quarterfinals, then was asked about his matchup with Nakashima during his post-match on-court interview.
"He's the hottest guy on tour right now," Tiafoe said.
He's right. Nakashima will crack the top 20 in the ATP Rankings for the first time next week. He is coming off a run to the Canadian Open finals before four consecutive wins in Cincinnati, including a victory over No. 4 Daniil Medvedev in the Round of 32 where he saved three match points. He is the ninth American man to reach the semifinals in Canada and Cincinnati in a season and the first since 2011 (Mardy Fish).
Nakashima leads the ATP tour in hard-court wins (22) this season (Tiafoe has 20) after defeating Taylor Fritz in Friday's quarterfinal.
Tiafoe is looking to reach the Cincinnati Open final for the second time in three years (2024 runner-up to Jannik Sinner). He has dropped just one set this week in Mason and knocked out a pair of top 10 seeds (No. 2 Auger-Aliassime and No. 10 Musetti) over the last three days.
Tiafoe is 6-1 all-time against Nakashima (5-1 on hard court).
WTA: Sara Bejlek vs. No. 4 Coco Gauff
7:30 p.m. scheduled start: Does Sara Bejlek have another upset in her? The unseeded 20-year-old has knocked out four seeded players in a row. That stretch includes back-to-back wins over former Cincinnati Open winners.
In the Round of 16, she stunned World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. On Aug. 21, she rallied from a set down to defeat No. 20 seed Madison Keys in her first-ever WTA 1000 quarterfinals appearance. She is just the second player in 17 years to beat four WTA 1000 champions to get to a WTA 1000 semifinal.
She has a chance to make it five against Gauff, who owns three WTA 1000 titles, including the Rookwood Cup in 2023. Gauff is making her fifth WTA 1000 semifinal of the season but is looking for her first title since 2025 in Wuhan over Pegula.
Gauff has made quick work of three straight seeded opponents. She lost the first set of the tournament against Liudmila Samsanova Aug. 16. Since then, she's won eight consecutive sets, winning 49 of 70 total games.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Here are the ATP, WTA semifinal matchups at the 2026 Cincinnati Open
