Halep, Bertens to face off in Cincinnati Masters women’s final

The finals for the Western & Southern Open will take place on Sunday. Kiki Bertens and Simona Halep are battling for the women’s crown.

The women’s singles final at the Cincinnati Masters (this year called the Western & Southern Open) is now set after Kiki Bertens and Simona Halep managed wins in their semifinal matchups on Saturday. The Cincinnati Masters is the last big tournament before the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open. Bertens and Halep will meet in the final on Sunday.

The unseeded Bertens needed three sets, but ultimately bested No. 8 Petra Kvitova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, in her semifinal matchup. Kvitova, notably, eliminated Serena Williams in the second round of the tournament. Halep took on the very tough Aryna Sabalenka in her semifinal match, winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Bertens’ run through the tournament has been incredible, felling Coco Vandeweghe in the first round before beating Caroline Wozniacki, Anett Kontaveit, Elina Svitolina and then Kvitova to reach the final.

Sabalenka had a very impressive run to the semifinals, beating all of Johanna Konta, Karolina Pliskova, Caroline Garcia and Madison Keys en route to Halep. Halep, on the other hand, bested Ajla Tomljanovic, Ashleigh Barty and Lesia Tsurenko before facing Sabalenka as the top seed.

At the time of writing, the men’s singles final has yet to be determined. Novak Djokovic needed three sets but bested the tough Marin Cilic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to advance, but we are awaiting the results of the match between David Goffin and Roger Federerer to determine the final.

Djokovic’s run through Cincy includes wins over Steve Johnson, Adrian Mannarino, Grigor Dimitrov, MIlos Raonic and then Cilic to reach the final. All of those matches, save for the opener vs. Johnson, were three-set matches, so it will be interesting to see if Djokovic is tired at all when the US Open gets underway in New York.