Katie Swan’s career resurgence has her on the cusp of another title after she took down top seed Lizette Cabrera to reach the final of the Wagga Wagga Tennis International #1.

Swan, 26, is a former United Cup representative for Great Britain who has battled a debilitating back issue before finally freeing herself of the injury woes this year.

With Wagga Wagga never having hosted an ITF event in its history, Swan has been the standout performer in the Riverina this week and prevailed in a gripping second set tiebreaker to down Cabrera 6-4, 7-6(8) at Jim Elphick Tennis Centre on Saturday.

Swan needed five match points to finally seal the deal, but the fourth seed did enough to set up a showdown with Taylah Preston, who came from a set down to beat Elena Micic 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Swan’s win was far from straight forward with Cabrera making her work for two hours and 15 minutes, but she’s now only one match from a third title in 2025 after triumphs in San Diego and Spain’s Don Benito.

She spent eight months until April without playing in an ITF event.

Swan is yet to drop a set this week and has spent considerably less time on court than 19-year-old Preston, who has had had to go the distance twice already, including a final set tiebreaker against Laquisa Khan in the second round.

The top two men’s seeds playing the Capital of Country International at Tamworth will square off in the final after Dane Sweeny and Marc Polmans justified favouritism in their semi-finals.

Sweeny was forced to do it the hard way though, fighting from a set down to beat Poland’s Filip Peliwo 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Peliwo was within touching distance at 4-4 in the second set, but Sweeny pounced with a crucial break and then continued the momentum in the decider as he chases a fifth title this year alone.

“It’s been a really good year,” Sweeny said. “I’ve found some really good form after a long while without putting many good matches together.

“I’m really just proud of myself for showing up day in and day out even though the results weren’t going my way for so long. I knew I was going to get rewarded eventually. The time was coming.

“Hopefully I can keep building and keep the wins coming.”

Second seed Polmans will be a formidable opponent after sweeping past 16-year-old Turkish rising star Mustafa Ege Sik 6-2, 6-1 in just 76 minutes.

The finals of the Wagga Wagga Tennis International #1 and Capital of Country will be played on Sunday, with the main draw for new events at each regional NSW venue to begin next week.