CINCINNATI: Iga Swiatek filled in a piece of her career tennis puzzle on Monday as she won the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open for the first time with a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Jasmine Paolini.
The final lasting for just under two hours featured 16 break-point chances, with the Polish winner converting on six of 10 while Paolini struggled to make the most of her break opportunities.
The six-time Grand Slam singles champion’s 11th career win at the WTA 1000 level has left her within striking distance of the all-time record of 13 titles held by Serena Williams. Swiatek won the Cincinnati without dropping a set.
The 24-year-old backed up her breakthrough Wimbledon trophy with the Midwest honors and now heads to the last Grand Slam of the season at the US Open with a major confidence boost after the 24th title of her career.
Swiatek also climbed to within 500 points of current WTA number one Aryna Sabalenka, with the lead at the top of the table likely to be in play at the Open when it begins on Sunday.
Swiatek had stalled twice at the last two editions at the semifinal stage and now has only the Canadian tournament where she has not reached the final at a 1000 event.
Swiatek began on the wrong foot as she lost serve to trail 0-3. But the situation was only temporary as the former number one immediately began her turnaround.
The Pole answered immediately with two breaks of serve and moved to a 5-3 lead
But Paolini earned another break in the 10th game, saving a Swiatek set point to square the final at five-all.
Paolini dropped serve for 5-6, giving her opponent the chance to produce a love game and claim the opener 7-5 after just under an hour on court.
The second set was a roller coaster, with the pair twice swapping breaks of serve before Swiatek salvaged a pair of break points to lead 5-3 and then serving out the winner two games later.
Swiatek beats Paolini to clinch WTA Cincinnati Open title
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Swiatek beats Paolini to clinch WTA Cincinnati Open title
- The six-time Grand Slam singles champion’s 11th career win at the WTA 1000 level has left her within striking distance of the all-time record of 13 titles held by Serena Williams
Man Utd financial results show profit increase after job cuts
- United generated an operating profit of $44m in the first six months of the fiscal year
- “We are now seeing the positive financial impact of our off-pitch transformation materialize both in our costs and profitability,” Berrada said
LONDON: Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada highlighted the “positive financial impact of our off-pitch transformation” after the club recorded a profit increase following their recent job cuts.
United generated an operating profit of £32.6 million ($44 million) in the first six months of the fiscal year, compared with a £3.9 million loss for the same period last year.
The operating profit for the most recent quarter, over the last three months, was £19.6 million, compared to £3.1 million in the same period last year.
Those numbers come after United minority owner Jim Ratcliffe, who heads the club’s football operation, oversaw a redundancy and restructuring program that saw around 450 jobs cut.
In announcing their latest figures on Wednesday, United said they had seen “the positive impact of operating cost and headcount reduction programs implemented in the prior year.”
United’s total revenues for the second quarter of the financial year were £190.3 million, down from £198.7 million for the equivalent period the previous year.
Commercial revenue dropped from £85.1 million to £78.5 million and match-day revenues down from £52 million to £49.5 million.
The fall in total revenues can be linked to United’s failure to qualify for the Champions League or Europa League last season, denying them the income from European matches this season.
But with United up to fourth place in the Premier League this term under interim boss Michael Carrick, and the women’s team through to the Champions League quarter-finals, the club believe they are well placed for a further rise in profits.
United say they remain on track to record revenues of between £640 million and £660 million for the full fiscal year.
“We are now seeing the positive financial impact of our off-pitch transformation materialize both in our costs and profitability,” Berrada said.
“Today’s results demonstrate the underlying strength of our business as we continue to push for the best football results possible for our men’s and women’s teams.”
