tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233829132024-03-17T20:28:06.659-04:00RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A LURKERpop culture, tennis, celebrities, music, news, geek related stuff and anything else I fancyLurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.comBlogger3891125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-30187831636048668152024-03-17T20:27:00.001-04:002024-03-17T20:27:30.467-04:00Iga Swiatek 2-time Indian Wells Champion!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0SU4BbP2dDV-HV2mMz6MISA0yB54BH7KducEh5LzqTq3vIyHrzamkrADeK5mT9fEegZT_LfsjQnyXz3nb-8J6_xIu5N3Xt_mTtwrvni5b0G0fF45Fb9KmIP83ehIbL6RbB6R-c1F99NzHJL7iFbz-bZtHsk-aboAmCpA1BOl1P2qqQlibLf79ug/s697/Indian%20Wells%20Trophy%20kiss%202024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="697" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0SU4BbP2dDV-HV2mMz6MISA0yB54BH7KducEh5LzqTq3vIyHrzamkrADeK5mT9fEegZT_LfsjQnyXz3nb-8J6_xIu5N3Xt_mTtwrvni5b0G0fF45Fb9KmIP83ehIbL6RbB6R-c1F99NzHJL7iFbz-bZtHsk-aboAmCpA1BOl1P2qqQlibLf79ug/w400-h400/Indian%20Wells%20Trophy%20kiss%202024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2731" data-original-width="4096" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWLU18umDtP2GNqZ06HjH-qFQ-diY-D91cK3UDRNhbSAH6ivZhp6ckBUDi-aCBFQBcDhM0EOLx0c8knLLzuwcpmgwMBT80XE5THmxljLYWpo2CABokJYGny0AyVFDyH6481QSPb51qCXyrCXBcscXF4K5yB0xR7rUapxm66Z1Ozf3kmpRR-Z6TA/w400-h266/Iga%20Indian%20Wells%20celebration.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br />World No.1 Iga Swiatek rolled to her second BNP Paribas Open title on Sunday in Indian Wells by toppling Maria Sakkari -- who she beat 6-4, 6-1 to win in the California desert two years ago -- by a 6-4, 6-0 final score. <br /><br />Swiatek won the last eight games of the 68-minute match, in which she won the first three in 15 minutes on court. Sakkari missed more balls than she made early on, as Swiatek won 12 of the first 15 points, but there was a match to be had for much of the first set. From 0-30 down on her serve in the fourth game, No.9 seed Sakkari won three straight games to level the first set at 3-3 -- but from 4-4, the World No.1 found another level.<div><br /></div><div>By the end of the match, she broke Sakkari five times, and only lost five points in the second set. Behind 15 winners overall, Swiatek won 12 straight sets in her second BNP Paribas Open title run, and lost just 21 games. </div><div><br /></div>“I'm really proud of myself,” Swiatek said afterwards. “I'm super happy. I mean, even though this tournament looked like, the scores, maybe I had everything under control, it wasn't from the beginning to the end so easy. So I'm happy I could improve during the tournament. I felt really good on the last two matches, big amount of confidence.<br /><br />"I would say at the beginning of the tournament I felt like I didn't have much luck with the draw," Swiatek continued. "I played opponents that sometimes I struggled with. I lost against Linda [Noskova] in Australia this year. Then I was pretty stressed actually before facing Caroline Wozniacki [in the quarterfinals], because I felt like we haven't played in a while. I didn't really know how her game feels on my racquet. I just have huge respect for her. This was the kind of match where I had to kind of work through the stress.<br /><br />"But then after that I just felt like I could actually play my game more freely."<br /><br />Sakkari and Swiatek were the third pair of players to meet in multiple finals in Indian Wells, joining Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport (1998, 2000) and Kim Clijsters and Lindsay Davenport (2003, 05). The two have now split six career meetings, all of which have been decided in straight sets, and Swiatek has won the last three. <br /><br />Swiatek now owns eight career WTA 1000 titles, and 19 career Hologic WTA Tour titles in all. She's now won at least two titles in each of the last four seasons. <div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3935898/swiatek-rolls-past-sakkari-for-second-indian-wells-title">wtatennis.com</a></div><div><br /></div><b>I don't have much to say about this match really, other then absolutely outstanding. Just Iga being Iga. </b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>That's how legendary champions bounce back from a loss in a Grand Slam. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Get some well deserved rest champ!. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>See you in Miami!.<br /></b><div><br /></div><div>More fun with <a href="https://twitter.com/OptaAce">Optaace </a>stats<br /><br /><i>19 - Iga Swiatek is the player with the most titles after her first 23 WTA level finals in the Open Era (19, level with Chris Evert, Gail Sherriff and Nancy Richey). Incredible.</i><br /><br /><br /><i>36 - Only Martina Navratilova (44) has won more top-10 matches within her first 50 such clashes in the last 40 years than Iga Swiatek (36). Unimaginable.</i><br /><br /><br /><i>10 - Iga Swiatek is the first player to win 10+ consecutive matches against top-10 since … Iga Swiatek - she is the fourth player in 2000s with multiple such streaks after Venus Williams, Justine Henin and Serena Williams. Repeat. </i><br /><br /><br /><i>3 - Iga Swiatek is the third player to secure multiple titles in Indian Wells before turning 23 after Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters. Paradise!</i></div></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-59107235323124042272024-03-15T15:52:00.001-04:002024-03-16T16:10:52.111-04:00Iga Swiatek makes 2nd Indian Wells Final<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0VVOa4-lEpRMrQt09um624iSFIoxAsu7QWqza7Z0lWfzdzXU2NLZH_xLG-ldZgESec99l-slw0f2s2vvdGfdzMubFYK1uvf0mTcJFdcRTSf84SNgkxLvKU9wbDsrNmIKAybhYcOctiYRhYyRlJiTNXq7xDaMsH-eOHoyeTNIZtkB7pcgJrIgAw/s1080/GIwEpdHXIAAPDDH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0VVOa4-lEpRMrQt09um624iSFIoxAsu7QWqza7Z0lWfzdzXU2NLZH_xLG-ldZgESec99l-slw0f2s2vvdGfdzMubFYK1uvf0mTcJFdcRTSf84SNgkxLvKU9wbDsrNmIKAybhYcOctiYRhYyRlJiTNXq7xDaMsH-eOHoyeTNIZtkB7pcgJrIgAw/w400-h400/GIwEpdHXIAAPDDH.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0bHwpAE4Kf7X_jw9ofVk4OWUj0VArhtdpgfK-yk99SlnzN8d69y2fMrrJ-bhE3Egei5OTFSzaTC0WgohCJ_TwYz8T0rRLClFE7N2ZXYdeUT5OwLtg_C8bQ1PWrdM-yZPKz927dRv6VzfBbOjWtZtBW2hKMEXoowVnLoy5kYEUZaw3D9YTAcUsQ/s1200/GIwT5-kbcAAQ_e-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1200" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0bHwpAE4Kf7X_jw9ofVk4OWUj0VArhtdpgfK-yk99SlnzN8d69y2fMrrJ-bhE3Egei5OTFSzaTC0WgohCJ_TwYz8T0rRLClFE7N2ZXYdeUT5OwLtg_C8bQ1PWrdM-yZPKz927dRv6VzfBbOjWtZtBW2hKMEXoowVnLoy5kYEUZaw3D9YTAcUsQ/w400-h255/GIwT5-kbcAAQ_e-.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdDcF9ZmTeH6_JqsrBeIDKdvq1ScQ5A8imOqgWCYG_4wMZmdX-kky-IkxBglC3lVkcbVPBStY7TB6GHXIOyHi2Lqk7djuIw4mfGWjFD-Er2w1KC7GwrbsFOu2Nr4SGjlApaKO5UAd_0VZtNtBZmnP2B6kM-UHO1N5PizOCrrk4A9Lw6qYFGEm7Gg/s4096/GIyWcoEXQAAaDRw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2862" data-original-width="4096" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdDcF9ZmTeH6_JqsrBeIDKdvq1ScQ5A8imOqgWCYG_4wMZmdX-kky-IkxBglC3lVkcbVPBStY7TB6GHXIOyHi2Lqk7djuIw4mfGWjFD-Er2w1KC7GwrbsFOu2Nr4SGjlApaKO5UAd_0VZtNtBZmnP2B6kM-UHO1N5PizOCrrk4A9Lw6qYFGEm7Gg/w400-h280/GIyWcoEXQAAaDRw.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><br />World No.1 Iga Swiatek will play for her second BNP Paribas Open title on Sunday after beating No.31 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in Friday's semifinals, 6-2, 6-1. <br /><br />Swiatek needed just about three quarters of an hour to build a set and a break lead in her second tour-level meeting against the Ukrainian -- who started her first career semifinal at WTA 1000 level or high erratically by making 15 unforced errors in the opening set. Kostyuk received a medical timeout after dropping serve for a fourth time in the match in the third game of set two, during which she appeared to jar her foot on the court surface at one stage, and though she continued the match, Swiatek eventually put a bow on victory after 69 minutes on court. <br /><br />Swiatek will face No.9 Maria Sakkari in Sunday's final. The match is a rematch of the 2022 Indian Wells final, which Swiatek won 6-4, 6-1.<br /><br />Read on for more stats from Swiatek's semifinal victory, which puts her into her second Hologic WTA Tour final of the season. <br /><br /><b>2016:</b> Swiatek is the first No.1 seed to reach the Indian Wells final since Serena Williams in 2016. The last No.1 seed to win the title was Victoria Azarenka in 2012. <br /><br /><b>0</b>: Swiatek did not face a break point in the match, and only dropped 10 points on serve. Conversely, she broke Kostyuk five times in six chances. <br /><br /><b>6: </b>Swiatek only made six unforced errors in the match, striking 14 winners. Kostyuk hit 23 unforced errors to her 17 winners.<br /><br /><b>19:</b> The win is Swiatek's 19th on tour this year, and breaks her tie for the tour lead with American Emma Navarro (18). <br /><br /><b>22:</b> Swiatek is now 22-7 in her career in WTA semifinals, and she'll bid for her 19th career title on Saturday. <br /><br /><b>3: </b>Swiatek is bidding for her third career WTA 1000 title as the No.1 seed. In addition to her victory in Doha last month, she also won the crown as the top seed in Rome two years ago. <br /><br /><b>10: </b>Should she win Saturday's final, Swiatek will be the 10th woman all-time to win two Indian Wells titles. No woman has ever won more than two in tournament history.<br /><br /><b>17: </b>Swiatek has not dropped a set en route to the final, and has only lost 17 games in five matches.<br /><br /><b>37:</b> Swiatek has now made the final in 37% of the WTA 1000 main draws she's played in her career (10/27), which puts her ahead of Serena Williams (36.7%) for the highest rate since the format began in 2009.<br /><br /><b>26:</b> Despite the loss, Kostyuk will reach a new career-high ranking of No.26 on Monday.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3934156/by-the-numbers-swiatek-cruises-into-second-indian-wells-final">wtatennis.com</a></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Well I certainly didn't have a rematch of the 2022 Indian Wells final on my bingo card. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>A nice surprise. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Switching coaches for Sakkari (and hiring former coach of Pegula) is definitely working out.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Iga was pretty much flawless, it was her best match of the tournament if not the year thus far. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>I love watching her when she's this loose and in full flow (even smiling when she makes an error). </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Reminds me of watching Roger Federer when he was invincible. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>I'm 50/50 on wanting the match to be competitive, and hoping Iga does what only Iga can and dominate it. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Although I'm fully expecting it to be a display of amazing physical prowess on both sides.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>I think it'll definitely come down to who handles the occasion and their nerves better in the important moments. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Jazda Iga as always we believe in you!. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b> </b></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-43558702938236202282024-03-14T00:48:00.002-04:002024-03-15T01:31:53.199-04:00Iga Swiatek gets the better of Wozniacki who retires mid match due to foot injury at Indian Wells<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fczsqNv2zuR_t9ZEW7hPS1WK-Gfw_vvHyRFwWhUz345b7J0KbRToBCqZGijeSv2R2jZK3qfi12BwReLv6pHgi9cWIyRHxCDWEi9W7scSphvGuoHUdSJhuil1HLWyMa2rvaxM1ZcN-McRSp1qB8HFzGalgTxM82OTItAdaBeLxF6xtMWUhB_dWA/s1152/GIqPT-5WYAAYQP-.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1152" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fczsqNv2zuR_t9ZEW7hPS1WK-Gfw_vvHyRFwWhUz345b7J0KbRToBCqZGijeSv2R2jZK3qfi12BwReLv6pHgi9cWIyRHxCDWEi9W7scSphvGuoHUdSJhuil1HLWyMa2rvaxM1ZcN-McRSp1qB8HFzGalgTxM82OTItAdaBeLxF6xtMWUhB_dWA/w400-h261/GIqPT-5WYAAYQP-.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpZmSKTW4fLl1BS9Yoq8yZv-bWrrV0F1I6KgDt43-_odg8AAfRQeaEemFWzM__RF0cCnrfO10aPZ5qSQhs3QPpS43mooMWV6WIP1CdoYbErT0kZoPj6s6Ee7bPk2UHWRC6ILG6LzPm8NCCKMbNmLrVKge9sO1kOaL8SHUZ7-kyLivwI0fRa5YsA/s1200/GIqohVmagAAludB.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="1200" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpZmSKTW4fLl1BS9Yoq8yZv-bWrrV0F1I6KgDt43-_odg8AAfRQeaEemFWzM__RF0cCnrfO10aPZ5qSQhs3QPpS43mooMWV6WIP1CdoYbErT0kZoPj6s6Ee7bPk2UHWRC6ILG6LzPm8NCCKMbNmLrVKge9sO1kOaL8SHUZ7-kyLivwI0fRa5YsA/w400-h250/GIqohVmagAAludB.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUnYXbj0GTxtA6o2h7wpqh2Hy0LVXJiiscM8mVG0kcYMagiKVfC4-jzsNHoVy_5d0mynD8BcPHinYLFVF7tiqDjoac-Gk8QKWW2FGGW_2zjjxPNp7FP-RM8yB1XHI9nNFfKAkUh4X5IEUVJTICUz8-KPELchGRNLx5BH6CGKN_sjLOGMMvvCNLAg/s1966/GIqIZ9_XkAAQxRl.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1966" data-original-width="1966" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUnYXbj0GTxtA6o2h7wpqh2Hy0LVXJiiscM8mVG0kcYMagiKVfC4-jzsNHoVy_5d0mynD8BcPHinYLFVF7tiqDjoac-Gk8QKWW2FGGW_2zjjxPNp7FP-RM8yB1XHI9nNFfKAkUh4X5IEUVJTICUz8-KPELchGRNLx5BH6CGKN_sjLOGMMvvCNLAg/w400-h400/GIqIZ9_XkAAQxRl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><br />World No.1 Iga Swiatek moved into her third consecutive BNP Paribas Open semifinal after former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki retired from their quarterfinal match on Thursday, due to a right foot injury. The final score was 6-4, 1-0, ret.<br /><br />Swiatek, the 2022 Indian Wells champion, battled back from 4-1 down in the opening set to clinch the one-set lead. Wozniacki, who won the Indian Wells title back in 2011, took a medical time-out for her foot between sets, and the Dane made it only one more game before ending the match.<br /><br />"I'm hoping that Caroline will be better and she'll be ready for Miami," Swiatek said, after the match. "It's not the best way to win.<br /><br />"But I'm happy that I played well enough in first set to win it. For sure it was tight. At the beginning we had many longer rallies, so I felt like I needed to be solid and be ready. At the end I'm happy that I used the chances in the last games."<br /><br /><b>Champs' clash truncated:</b> It was a sudden conclusion to an anticipated match between two Grand Slam champions. Swiatek and Wozniacki had only played once before; Swiatek won 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in their previous meeting at Toronto in 2019, when Wozniacki was ranked No.18 and Swiatek No.65.<br /><br />Wozniacki, who was contesting her first WTA quarterfinal in four years, looked sharp in the opening games, as she sought her first win over a reigning World No.1 since she defeated Simona Halep to win her lone Grand Slam title at the 2018 Australian Open.<br /><br />The 33-year-old mother-of-two, who returned from a three-year maternity leave last summer, saved three break points in her first service game. Wozniacki then used a strong angled return to break for a 3-1 lead, and a quick consolidation followed, giving Wozniacki the 4-1 lead. But Swiatek's heavy hitting helped her get the break back two games later, and the top seed also prevailed in a lengthy ninth game, converting her fourth break point of that tussle to lead 5-4.<br /><br />Swiatek won her fifth straight game with an ace, closing out the set in emphatic fashion before Wozniacki's injury stopped the clash shortly thereafter, following 65 minutes of play.<br /><br /><b>Kostyuk awaits:</b> Swiatek will take on No.31 seed Marta Kostyuk in Friday's semifinals. Swiatek defeated Kostyuk in their only previous meeting, notching a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Ukrainian in the Round of 16 at 2021 Roland Garros.<br /><br />The 21-year-old Kostyuk booked a spot in her first career WTA 1000 semifinal with a 6-0, 7-5 win over No.28 seed Anastasia Potapova on Thursday. It was Kostyuk's first win in three career meetings with Potapova.<br /><br />"I practiced with [Swiatek] in Doha, I was really looking forward to actually playing her in the match," Kostyuk said, looking ahead to the semis. "I think it will be a great match. <br /><br />"I don't know what else to say, because I'm excited, and I played her in Paris three years ago, and it was a bit different match. We were both in different positions. Even more exciting now."<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3933292/swiatek-advances-to-indian-wells-semifinals-after-injured-wozniacki-retires">wtatennis.com</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>The first set was a really fun tussle, I admit I didn't give Wozniacki enough credit. I honestly thought Iga would just blow her off the court. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>But she really held her own with her trademark retrieval skills. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Frustrating Iga making her hit some errors and even getting ahead in the set. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>I'm actually really disappointed she had to retire due to an injury, because I was looking forward to Iga solving the puzzle in the 2nd set. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>As she herself mentioned in her post match interview there were some things she was going to implement in set 2 that she didn't get to. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>I wouldn't mind if these 2 met again at some point this season.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Kostyuk next for Iga. She's playing well and it'll be their first meeting on a hard court. Could be a good one if both play at a high level.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>So that's a 3rd consecutive semi final at Indian Wells. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>There's always so much talk about Iga's biggest rivels Sabalenka and Rybakina, but never enough about just how consistent she is at these events (at only 22!). </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>It is extremely impressive, the stuff of legends really. Feels like she doesn't get enough credit for just how hard that is. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>What better way to end this post then with some more <a href="https://twitter.com/OptaAce">OptaAce</a> fun because Iga just loves adding to it :)</b></div><div><br /></div><i>9 - Iga Swiatek has won her last nine meetings against former World No. 1 - her last such defeat was back in January 2022 in Adelaide vs Ashleigh Barty. Status.<br /><br /><br />88.9% - Among players with at least 15 matches in Indian Wells, only Steffi Graf (89.5%) has a highest winning percentage than Iga Swiatek (88.9%, 16-2) at this event. Fabulous.</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>14 - Iga Swiatek is the player with the fewest games lost en route to make the semi-finals in Indian Wells (14) since 2008 (Jelena Jankovic, 12). Path.<br /><br />3 - Iga Swiatek has become the fourth player to make three consecutive semi-finals appearances in Indian Wells since the inception of the tournament in 1989 after Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova. Treble.<br /><br /><br />In completed matches before the semis, she's — 32-0 since the start of 2023 — 48-2 since the start of 2022 That's 13 semifinals in the last 16 events, across 3 seasons.<br /><br /><br />3rd straight Indian Wells SF 6th straight WTA 1000 SF 14th WTA 1000 SF overall </i><br /><br /><br />Also this happened during the men's quarterfinals:<div><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></span></div><div><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQqoUBAdCOnMxBHsILkusaHfx83JUue7lPziDwjF3xKvRI5h7NbrKtzBFCSIgFAjRP_VaqGXxmEMaNiyLtX5DQX66OelB9poc60MGsrm3cBViZhUpL0fO18FyicBO6leK9yVyv7DI-HTW5_ShaAx6-0BpfJxwgXpW8No5qjIvkUttW0yqarAsruQ/s2048/GIqi9x8XIAA8yeb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBy9VoUcd1u6t3A5sfiemiuwOTijRUhs3BBQxG_f_O9jz1fd9QOUsHdb90xu5YK8BFASQFsecBisp_YEYrRbG5lj_URKCyJWTKYUpv7Dn8xLo0dX6B4YC6IcRB69sgeMzEYOWZa4ogA53bQQWWRvmLuN9tqg7b5aVmx_7eKOuRz7OTrJsEHkBEug/s2442/GIqidIBaMAAgcXR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1392" data-original-width="2442" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBy9VoUcd1u6t3A5sfiemiuwOTijRUhs3BBQxG_f_O9jz1fd9QOUsHdb90xu5YK8BFASQFsecBisp_YEYrRbG5lj_URKCyJWTKYUpv7Dn8xLo0dX6B4YC6IcRB69sgeMzEYOWZa4ogA53bQQWWRvmLuN9tqg7b5aVmx_7eKOuRz7OTrJsEHkBEug/w400-h228/GIqidIBaMAAgcXR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div>And it ended with this amusing exchange from Iga at the press conference: </span></div><div><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1miU6KZBb3UgXMx9JU3LysszRI2wuOVRHFfh8TRjhvXEWTMKah_z-dEq4ObgOMJJTH4AlIEwehJGasREXtpJikqH9Kz6HAVWd1boYWDyurpngkgheRSMpVk7dXDpegao6saXDNNqZebIWUeNguvNckviDMl3aye8oxuRlErYFgEP1xWQPHyrrA/s1347/Iga.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1347" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1miU6KZBb3UgXMx9JU3LysszRI2wuOVRHFfh8TRjhvXEWTMKah_z-dEq4ObgOMJJTH4AlIEwehJGasREXtpJikqH9Kz6HAVWd1boYWDyurpngkgheRSMpVk7dXDpegao6saXDNNqZebIWUeNguvNckviDMl3aye8oxuRlErYFgEP1xWQPHyrrA/w348-h400/Iga.jpg" width="348" /></a></div><br /><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><div class="twitterThumb center" contenteditable="false" id="" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #0a0a0a; display: flex; font-family: CreatoDisplay, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 19px; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 6.4rem; margin-left: calc(8.33333% + 1.2rem); margin-top: 6.4rem; max-width: 76rem;" title="Embedded Tweet"></div></div></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-47732049516604461772024-03-13T17:36:00.001-04:002024-03-13T17:36:52.229-04:00Iga Swiatek sets up a quarterfinal with Caroline Wozniacki at Indian Wells<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9AX5hQoGvmoRrY5CXrnheBVgJVRzIwd00WVv7SXVhMn9DdU90SlViQnCtuia050ou0EwdUIMl8i_bb5NhYUrw8eq0AfLLQmLvYkkwKG3HdqWzcFoJuZdW2p6271W_BQnn7cWJDedLrs7A1VENZxRFXFea6aPNLMONBG-8tY9lPV8bno7XCMFuhA/s1152/GIk6hP-WcAAjsfT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="775" data-original-width="1152" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9AX5hQoGvmoRrY5CXrnheBVgJVRzIwd00WVv7SXVhMn9DdU90SlViQnCtuia050ou0EwdUIMl8i_bb5NhYUrw8eq0AfLLQmLvYkkwKG3HdqWzcFoJuZdW2p6271W_BQnn7cWJDedLrs7A1VENZxRFXFea6aPNLMONBG-8tY9lPV8bno7XCMFuhA/w400-h269/GIk6hP-WcAAjsfT.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJOk0tOIbKQfmLOIwrzebrJG_IlrpaD85oMzx555ZZvoZJiGt5tkLYWIoyUcfWqEuezlXddMHN4Ixm4h1-T5uS95LBR4qmvO_tNVsirNMZTbndX3SeFzGOKW-HaifRxdQ0fod_zgR5IWdd4V1CZbZbFzfpxMOmBbLjk279TQSIjbWX6p34Jl6d3A/s1200/GIhWwwFbgAAq9JH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1200" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJOk0tOIbKQfmLOIwrzebrJG_IlrpaD85oMzx555ZZvoZJiGt5tkLYWIoyUcfWqEuezlXddMHN4Ixm4h1-T5uS95LBR4qmvO_tNVsirNMZTbndX3SeFzGOKW-HaifRxdQ0fod_zgR5IWdd4V1CZbZbFzfpxMOmBbLjk279TQSIjbWX6p34Jl6d3A/w400-h276/GIhWwwFbgAAq9JH.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtB29EPQjF6iZ4-iSukVwXizNdyJCs3VKlgsjfYhKkvcRUoBc0gYt5kvMDZNh9nJovt1SK-drkJgsqQaIEWoP0_9Q4LZK1jxdS-h5fXG1XCeGz85fEx08OgTyBVXuGVH756MhjKLijSgAfx2DpFC5EXO7tD-v8dPnMe67C7W4IW4X8TAdoz8Kqw/s1200/GIhpk8VbQAEbCTk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="1200" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtB29EPQjF6iZ4-iSukVwXizNdyJCs3VKlgsjfYhKkvcRUoBc0gYt5kvMDZNh9nJovt1SK-drkJgsqQaIEWoP0_9Q4LZK1jxdS-h5fXG1XCeGz85fEx08OgTyBVXuGVH756MhjKLijSgAfx2DpFC5EXO7tD-v8dPnMe67C7W4IW4X8TAdoz8Kqw/w400-h270/GIhpk8VbQAEbCTk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qV5wMJqFUkfE66SFe4uMI8Kr_g_zt_z1nYh9D_qZqBfWWVWc8NINmM-z9qlyOl-HSFqLlPJcfw1binNUfGSraTf97ZWCwnDRzPqYN6MmbbPJxOE33odkItQ0_YftjTHvXlwFjsroW-lSmHcyo3FNsDjd7NR_arDq1FICnX2Qq2-7Y-yovD4NOg/s1080/GIhkuDaa4AAJyDD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qV5wMJqFUkfE66SFe4uMI8Kr_g_zt_z1nYh9D_qZqBfWWVWc8NINmM-z9qlyOl-HSFqLlPJcfw1binNUfGSraTf97ZWCwnDRzPqYN6MmbbPJxOE33odkItQ0_YftjTHvXlwFjsroW-lSmHcyo3FNsDjd7NR_arDq1FICnX2Qq2-7Y-yovD4NOg/w400-h400/GIhkuDaa4AAJyDD.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><br /><br />INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- World No.1 Iga Swiatek eased into her third consecutive quarterfinal at the BNP Paribas Open after defeating No.79 Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday night. <br /><br /><br />The victory sets up a quarterfinal showdown against former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday. The Dane advanced to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since 2019 by defeating Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-2 earlier in the evening. <br /><br />"I think she's playing great even after the maternity break," Swiatek said on court. "She was fighting to come back.<br /><br />"I have huge respect. I'm going to prepare like any other, but off the court she's a great person."<br /><br />On a cool night in the California desert, Swiatek ran off eight consecutive games from 1-1 to take control of the 71-minute match and improve to 3-0 against Putintseva. Swiatek struck 17 winners while holding Putintseva to just four. The victory improved Swiatek to 17-2, tying her with Elena Rybakina and Emma Navarro for the most wins this year.<br /><br />"I just knew I had to keep my focus because she was trying some different stuff out there," Swiatek said, referring to Putintseva's underarm serve in the second set. "But I really wanted to just play my game and focus on what I wanted to do."<br /><br />Putintseva advanced to the fourth round at Indian Wells for the first time in her career by beating two Top 20 players in Madison Keys and Ekaterina Alexandrova. It was the first time she had done so in a single event for the first time in four years. <br /><br />Playing in her first night session match of the tournament, Swiatek seamlessly adjusted to the different conditions. She credited intel she received from Wozniacki about adjusting her string tension and specifically scheduled her practice session the day before to play under the lights.<br /><br />As Swiatek began to run away with the match, Putintseva threw every tactic she could to unmoor her. From an underarm serve to unleashing one of the biggest forehands she could muster, Putintseva was able to bring a sense of chaos to the match in the second set. <br /><br />"I can only be responsible for what's going on with me," Swiatek told reporters. "I want to keep my standards high no matter what's going on, and I think this match was a test for my mental training that I did. I'm happy with the way I was focused and really just, I didn't really care about what's going on. I'm prepared that many things can happen on court."<br /><br />Swiatek is playing a WTA 1000 tournament as the top seed for the 12th time in her career, trailing only Serena Williams (26) and Wozniacki (13). A champion in Doha last month, Swiatek is bidding to win her second title of the season this week. She has not lost before the semifinal stage at a WTA 1000 tournament since 2023 Rome.<br /><br />Swiatek will face Wozniacki for a second time in her career and the first time since their initial meeting at 2019 Toronto. Then a qualifier ranked No.65, Swiatek stunned No.18 Wozniacki 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. <br /><br />"Obviously she's playing good tennis, playing powerfully," Wozniacki said. "I practiced with her as well a few times after I have come back, during the US Open as well. I know how she plays, but it's one thing knowing how she plays and also playing against her in a full match.<br /><br />"I know that I have to play my best tennis to compete against her, and that's what I hope to do."<br /><br />The winner will face either Marta Kostyuk or Anastasia Potapova in the semifinals on Friday.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3931986/no-1-swiatek-sets-quarterfinal-match-vs-wozniacki-in-indian-wells">wtatennis.com</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>I had honestly forgotten how childish Putinseva can be, glad Iga handled everything with class. I mean feet shuffling, really?. How very Ostapenko. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>It's amazing to think that just 5 years ago Iga wasn't even in the top 50 she was an 18 year old underdog playing Caro Wozniacki a top 20 player in Toronto (a former world number 1 herself). </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Caro's last match in Toronto as well before maternity leave. And now it's Wozniacki who's the underdog and Iga the current raining world number 1.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Sport is wild sometimes. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>I'm really looking forward to this match. Just watching how far Iga has come since then will be fun. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>And a real test for Wozniacki as good as she has been this tournament and as well as she has been playing. It'll be totally different to play Iga in a real match.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Can't wait!.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>I'm a bit sad it wasn't Angie Kerber who won with Caro, but she was sadly hampered by a back issue. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Hopefully it's nothing serious and just needs a few days rest.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Angie has been a real joy to watch this tournament and it'd be a real shame not to see her in Miami next week. </b></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-51369826169125620002024-03-10T18:19:00.008-04:002024-03-12T18:28:43.917-04:00Iga Swiatek avenges Aussie Open loss to Linda Noskova at Indian Wells<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPIa1eVfAbli_asgbfQNeb4ACchM1lI49sVP7TcSW44g2qcpgy6vhSQ61oKu7yAJlz7-Bykawls27z0IjyubxLyLic4OMan7RqiRPI61ytkjWpPhqhgcyjuXsl5v05Rci5bHB5tt5366SCmPi96QRBIeJrmiJpaAj7yPzbfTmHm3yeV-2-Ja-iw/s1200/GINmN6DbkAA8qfQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="1200" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPIa1eVfAbli_asgbfQNeb4ACchM1lI49sVP7TcSW44g2qcpgy6vhSQ61oKu7yAJlz7-Bykawls27z0IjyubxLyLic4OMan7RqiRPI61ytkjWpPhqhgcyjuXsl5v05Rci5bHB5tt5366SCmPi96QRBIeJrmiJpaAj7yPzbfTmHm3yeV-2-Ja-iw/w400-h272/GINmN6DbkAA8qfQ.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hQc7BNEdkzVHiresl_MEftBf9rtEvbG3FJzWZ4UCKUX1v-GOhdxgTvFrb-_ddldXNvwojfeajT7qy7oDxL-Lg1c9d3Ur2P3GZ7uNS3Xtd_UzF8jp34MlDUd5WYruqb7lTAPBeAs8g58FYLgtOTQcDN2025le2k95Evq983eeqjTp9zVG7RbrgA/s1152/GIVXX1gXgAA4rKx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="1152" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hQc7BNEdkzVHiresl_MEftBf9rtEvbG3FJzWZ4UCKUX1v-GOhdxgTvFrb-_ddldXNvwojfeajT7qy7oDxL-Lg1c9d3Ur2P3GZ7uNS3Xtd_UzF8jp34MlDUd5WYruqb7lTAPBeAs8g58FYLgtOTQcDN2025le2k95Evq983eeqjTp9zVG7RbrgA/w400-h248/GIVXX1gXgAA4rKx.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3hyphenhyphenHw-78m74TA-HmeodxVOQsND23c-B81CzU5dKk50Is3-znFPTvyCbZlISdYtzCaNJBW8p3Y0yR1kHQSDsFGjFv4EsOIOPKmjU_yXKYf-7oAv_FqJ75cAeDbz_hWun2it44kLPb_vYZIzp5_XyiYodZs8io-Qc-4KKA6zNgzVHJ3PvOMW9sdg/s1152/GIVXX4gWEAEKK1-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1152" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3hyphenhyphenHw-78m74TA-HmeodxVOQsND23c-B81CzU5dKk50Is3-znFPTvyCbZlISdYtzCaNJBW8p3Y0yR1kHQSDsFGjFv4EsOIOPKmjU_yXKYf-7oAv_FqJ75cAeDbz_hWun2it44kLPb_vYZIzp5_XyiYodZs8io-Qc-4KKA6zNgzVHJ3PvOMW9sdg/w400-h261/GIVXX4gWEAEKK1-.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunp3yAoKzoK4Q9FeL2L3E3Lq_nmqYGzB6Kf5mtI9Z9eIZ8JCSlFJGdkox8QrWEp8terT-CLJRKId1fhSOsAjaHxKqxIoFwuvmzEhdxmFfHX5kcLavRoAnmkONtpyxI0TlazncO96Cb5Fj2gcfmmnz6BLaRrAyuGxPpHIrBvY3v7XDZHWOlaORNQ/s1152/GIVXX8IXIAAmFlq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="1152" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunp3yAoKzoK4Q9FeL2L3E3Lq_nmqYGzB6Kf5mtI9Z9eIZ8JCSlFJGdkox8QrWEp8terT-CLJRKId1fhSOsAjaHxKqxIoFwuvmzEhdxmFfHX5kcLavRoAnmkONtpyxI0TlazncO96Cb5Fj2gcfmmnz6BLaRrAyuGxPpHIrBvY3v7XDZHWOlaORNQ/w400-h269/GIVXX8IXIAAmFlq.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><br /><br />For the first half of the opening set of her third-round match against Czech teenager Linda Noskova at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday, it looked as though World No.1 Iga Swiatek -- who lost to Noskova in the same round at January's Australian Open -- was heading for a surprise exit again.<br /><br /><br />The Czech's big hitting from the back of the court pushed Swiatek off the baseline, and her delicate drop shots kept Swiatek guessing. The 19-year-old, one of two teenagers in the field in Tennis Paradise, built herself a 4-2 first-set lead, and she had three more break points in the seventh game that would've given her an opportunity to serve for the set. <br /><br />From there, a switch flipped. After winning nine straight games in her second-round win against Danielle Collins -- who also gave Swiatek all she could handle in Melbourne before the Pole escaped -- the top seed won 10 in a row to surge past Noskova 6-4, 6-0 and book a spot in the fourth round in Indian Wells for the fourth time. <br /><br />Swiatek has, in fact, never lost before the Round of 16 in Tennis Paradise: In her main-draw debut, she reached the fourth round before winning it all in 2022; last year, she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Elena Rybakina.<br /><br />"I made some mistakes at the beginning. I tried to maybe play to finish the rallies too early," Swiatek said afterwards. "But I knew that if I'm going to try to stay consistent and make a little bit less mistakes, my chances may come. So for sure wasn't comfortable, but I was ready to break back.<br /><br />"I had to kind of change some negative thoughts that I had into just thinking that I wasn't thinking about just waiting for my chances. I knew that I'm experienced enough to just, you know, hold it together and not really let myself let these negative thoughts win. So I just did that.<br /><br />"I think my game clicked a little bit more. I tried not to make these mistakes from faster rallies that we had, but actually we had a little bit less rallies, longer rallies later. So I just wanted to be consistent and use my advantages in the way this court works with my game."<br /><br />More facts and stats from Swiatek's third-round victory include:<br /><br /><b>4: </b>The 6-0 set against Noskova is Swiatek's fourth bagel set this year: In addition to Collins, she also beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-0 in Doha, and Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-0 at the United Cup. <br /><br /><b>11: </b>A key stretch of the opening set saw Swiatek win 11 straight points. After saving the last of the aforementioned three break points and holding serve in the seventh game, she won the next two games at love to take the lead back on the scoreboard -- one she never relinquished.<br /><br /><b>9: </b>Swiatek lost just nine points in the second set on the whole. Three of those were in the third game, as Noskova pushed her to deuce on serve, but Swiatek eventually held to stretch her lead to 6-4, 3-0. <br /><br /><b>68:</b> Swiatek raised her first-serve percentage from 57% in the opening set to 68% in the second set -- and never faced a break point as a result. <br /><br /><b>5: </b>Noskova, who is one spot off of her previous career-high at No.29 in the rankings currently, had won her last five matches against seeded players. <br /><br /><b>14:</b> Swiatek is now 14-4 in her career against Czech players, and 1-1 this year (both against Noskova). <br /><br /><b>2012: </b>The last time a No.1 seed won the title at Indian Wells was Azarenka 12 years ago. Swiatek is bidding to win a WTA 1000 title as the No. 1 seed for the third time. <br /><br />For a spot in the quarterfinals, Swiatek will next face unseeded Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, who toppled No.18 seed Madison Keys -- who was making her season debut in Indian Wells after a shoulder injury forced her out of the Australian swing -- 6-4, 6-1.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3929877/by-the-numbers-swiatek-surges-past-noskova-in-indian-wells">wtatennis.com</a></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-15404640730041199272024-03-08T17:58:00.001-05:002024-03-12T18:17:43.167-04:00Iga Swiatek gets past Collins in less dramatic fashion in Indian Wells opener<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwt5b-DHr7TGHeNwNgUAw5ZX-rmr20KDEVF1p2l_UZKJSk-uMWQC2l2Woxx5Wr4kicnvTeks1REIk4KXBPxWEoezgf5G8g_q8r_PtTjUuVQvEWcKP4PTeOWiLKsebdKskWyU0OusbQR1fo2ML1932ucBwbaip2gmc2Q5fe47llTdzPdmJVOdP64g/s1152/iga%20round%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1152" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwt5b-DHr7TGHeNwNgUAw5ZX-rmr20KDEVF1p2l_UZKJSk-uMWQC2l2Woxx5Wr4kicnvTeks1REIk4KXBPxWEoezgf5G8g_q8r_PtTjUuVQvEWcKP4PTeOWiLKsebdKskWyU0OusbQR1fo2ML1932ucBwbaip2gmc2Q5fe47llTdzPdmJVOdP64g/w400-h244/iga%20round%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAPYblURhHlXVShKlPGBhDwmEflFR-tSPJuIHYHwWSa1tda6K0WT_kmz67pUIyhY7UQx6SUZ9piAuPqmBbf06-AN8yE70QQRR2Mf96gf4P6erfaB9DaoxAl_me9cuF8VE-6evhTn5CUdfxWW6AmsQHpPNOk6NcsK4zOl8m6O52XGpNpjsJ8Fsrw/s1152/Iga%20rnd%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="1152" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAPYblURhHlXVShKlPGBhDwmEflFR-tSPJuIHYHwWSa1tda6K0WT_kmz67pUIyhY7UQx6SUZ9piAuPqmBbf06-AN8yE70QQRR2Mf96gf4P6erfaB9DaoxAl_me9cuF8VE-6evhTn5CUdfxWW6AmsQHpPNOk6NcsK4zOl8m6O52XGpNpjsJ8Fsrw/w400-h244/Iga%20rnd%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-12TNYP3-cNULxGHIQUYdYWqSJOM2Iaj8vq47ucqjgzr1eAbpyB4yUB0bsc71PzurZFQCNGMZbdh6O9FrDk5VhxvX6T-uOaUYwbkDZckF3vY8rji-uGNUqtYU04qYa6Z5S0tTBEq7kt9UlYUstb_HJsHEOeUw3dFlRv8-LfJJdJ6CWmqVVi_E0g/s1152/Iga%20Indian%20wells%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="1152" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-12TNYP3-cNULxGHIQUYdYWqSJOM2Iaj8vq47ucqjgzr1eAbpyB4yUB0bsc71PzurZFQCNGMZbdh6O9FrDk5VhxvX6T-uOaUYwbkDZckF3vY8rji-uGNUqtYU04qYa6Z5S0tTBEq7kt9UlYUstb_HJsHEOeUw3dFlRv8-LfJJdJ6CWmqVVi_E0g/w400-h251/Iga%20Indian%20wells%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKl_YyopdkEQDfwqW4s1USeR5ONmg-OozOIHRtaf59Ap66Ni7c-YLN-FXPbngUns1ce1xf5DzVnMuMVs9uX2B0rGrmsQ_gMQ0WI9NacQJOvbtzJkOmRDb2icc_mQgy9fvF_mPSfNIMcrJcUHNCVifyZ77bEYx6Ri8vk6SMRSUI_DJylb-MnZeWg/s1152/Iga%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="1152" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKl_YyopdkEQDfwqW4s1USeR5ONmg-OozOIHRtaf59Ap66Ni7c-YLN-FXPbngUns1ce1xf5DzVnMuMVs9uX2B0rGrmsQ_gMQ0WI9NacQJOvbtzJkOmRDb2icc_mQgy9fvF_mPSfNIMcrJcUHNCVifyZ77bEYx6Ri8vk6SMRSUI_DJylb-MnZeWg/w400-h244/Iga%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><a href="https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/iga-swiatek-weathers-stormy-danielle-collins-surges-into-australian-open-third-round">Six weeks after they met for a dramatic Australian Open encounter</a>, Iga Swiatek faced far fewer problems in a rematch with Danielle Collins, advancing, 6-3, 6-0 to ease into the third round at the BNP Paribas Open.<br /><br />"I'm happy that I started this tournament well because first rounds aren't easy, especially against Danielle," Swiatek said on court. "She's really hitting the ball hard, pretty unpredictable. I wanted to be ready for everything, and I'm happy to be through."<br /><br />The world No. 1 trailed Collins by a double break before ultimately solving the soon-to-be-retired American in Melbourne, and applied lessons learned from that meeting with aplomb at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, streaking through the final nine games to ultimately clinch the contest in 80 minutes on Stadium 1 Court.<br /><br />"It feels like home. I remember coming here when I was younger and it was all pretty overwhelming. Right now, I have a lot of support and the tournament is taking care of us in a really nice way. It feels amazing, and hopefully I'm going to be able to stay here as long as possible."<br /><br />March is a special month for the top seed, who is celebrating the two-year anniversary of when she first topped the WTA rankings after becoming the youngest woman to capture a Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami. Reaching the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in 2023, Swiatek, who has now spent 93 weeks as No. 1, has proven plenty comfortable in Tennis Paradise—even against formidable opposition from Collins.<br /><br />A former world No. 7, Collins announced 2024 would be her final season on tour after narrowly losing to Swiatek in Australia, but has nonetheless played solid tennis in the weeks since the shock revelation and looked poised to push Swiatek again in the desert.<br /><br />The pair traded well-earned service holds for three games apiece, with the turning point arriving when Swiatek served her way through a marathon seventh game. From saving two break points at 15-40, the Pole went on a tear, winning 10 of 11 points to secure the opening set and won a sixth straight game when she outrallied Collins for a set and double-break lead.<br /><br />"I started to make a few less mistakes, which gave Danielle a chance to make a few more. It's a small difference but at the end, I was ready to play well in those important moments, on break points and stuff like that. I'm happy I kept my focus and stayed with my game, no matter what Danielle was doing on the other side of the net."<br /><br />A flummoxed Collins later missed wide off the forehand side and Swiatek was able to serve for the match up 5-0. Holding off a late surge, Swiatek saved two break points—one with a sweeping forehand into the open court—and a well-struck serve brought her to match point. Collins saved it with brave forehand winner but Swiatek held firm, ending the match with a backhand putaway.<br /><br />Swiatek nonetheless remains in a tricky section of the draw, one that could see her face another Australian Open rival in the third round as Linda Noskova will take on Camila Giorgi later on Friday. Noskova, the No. 26 seed, stunned Swiatek in three sets en route to the quarterfinals Down Under.<p></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/iga-swiatek-flawless-in-danielle-collins-rematch-eases-through-indian-wells-opener">tennis.com</a></p>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-10937447579616327132024-02-23T16:15:00.002-05:002024-02-23T16:42:16.875-05:00Iga Swiatek falls one short of Dubai final<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOQtjFI62yzsF5_qq_snSccB1Z2A9DdWcCVRxV_vcFIw9fzHRTtT-F9f8LCCf-akl8pWWweTcKziejG6IAog446-oN-O__KBO5pLG14yERpKaH0PZOeySzlsNVXNJdyxHIeMu_Og99_51FW1xeKTVeURBAc3tC2jALz1AkgVzlt1HkJxQ0oNwfBQ/s1152/GHCtp3DXEAAhZ04.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="1152" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOQtjFI62yzsF5_qq_snSccB1Z2A9DdWcCVRxV_vcFIw9fzHRTtT-F9f8LCCf-akl8pWWweTcKziejG6IAog446-oN-O__KBO5pLG14yERpKaH0PZOeySzlsNVXNJdyxHIeMu_Og99_51FW1xeKTVeURBAc3tC2jALz1AkgVzlt1HkJxQ0oNwfBQ/w400-h241/GHCtp3DXEAAhZ04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Qualifier Anna Kalinskaya stunned World No.1 Iga Swiatek in Friday's semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, 6-4, 6-4, snapping the World No.1's seven-match winning streak and advancing to her first Hologic WTA Tour-level singles final.<br /><br />The loss is just Swiatek's second in her last 26 matches dating back to last September's WTA 500 event in Tokyo. At World No.40, Kalinskaya, meanwhile, is the sixth-lowest ranked player to ever make the final in Dubai in its two-plus decade history, and is the first qualifier to reach the final at the tournament.<br /><br />She'll face World No.26 Jasmine Paolini of Italy in Sunday's final in an all-unseeded affair -- the first all-unseeded final at WTA 1000 level since two former Top 10 players, Caroline Garcia and Petra Kvitova, dueled in the championship match in Cincinnati in 2022. It will be the fourth all-unseeded final in tournament history, all of which have come in the last decade: Venus Williams vs. Alize Cornet (2014), Sara Errani vs. Barbora Strycova (2016) and Jelena Ostapenko vs Veronika Kudermetova (2022).<br /><br />Turning point: Kalinskaya won 10 of the last 14 games to score the upset, as she came from a break down in the first set. Swiatek broke first to build a 4-2 lead in the opening set, at one point posting a remarkably clean 11-1 ratio of winners to unforced errors. But as Kalinskaya stayed solid from the baseline, Swiatek's errors began to mount. Kalinskaya broke back immediately to get back on serve.<br /><br />Serving at 4-4, 30-all, Swiatek struck a backhand long and a forehand wide to hand Kalinskaya a second straight break and a chance to serve out the first set. Kalinskaya, who notched her first career Top 5 win one round earlier over Coco Gauff, was unphased by the chance to hand the Pole her first loss of a set in the tournament. On set point at 40-30, Swiatek misfired on another forehand and Kalinskaya completed her comeback to take the lead after 52 minutes.<br /><br />Swiatek's consistency continued to waver in the second set, affording Kalinskaya the opportunity to break twice more, and lead 6-4, 5-2. She never faced a break point in the second set until she failed to serve out victory at that juncture -- Swiatek saved two match points at 40-15 in the eighth game -- but didn't falter in the second attempt. Swiatek had an opportunity to break again for 5-5, but another forehand miss -- just wide, to the open court -- denied the World No.1 to get back even.<br /><br />1: Kalinskaya was previously 0-2 in WTA semifinals in her career, having lost in that round in Washington, D.C. in 2019 and in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2022. <br /><br />2: The fourth qualifier to ever reach the semifinals in Dubai, Kalinskaya is the second to ever reach any WTA 1000 final. Former World No.4 Garcia was a qualifier at that aforementioned Cincinnati tournament in 2022, a title she eventually won.<br /><br />3: The win over Swiatek is Kalinskaya's first over a World No.1, but it's her third Top 10 win this week after she beat Jelena Ostapenko in the third round and Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals. The 25-year-old now boasts seven career Top 10 wins in all, and ironically enough, her win over top-ranked Swiatek's is her first-ever against a player from Poland at tour level. <br /><br />1,506: Kalinskaya is the first qualifier to defeat the World No.1 in more than 1,500 days: when Jennifer Brady beat Ashleigh Barty at the Brisbane International in 2020. The World No.1 won the last 21 such matches.<br /><br />7: While she snapped Doha champion Swiatek's seven-match winning streak in the Middle East, Kalinskaya has now recorded seven wins this week alone. She won two matches in qualifying against Rebeka Masarova and Kamilla Rakhimova to reach the main draw.<br /><br />14: Swiatek hadn't lost a set in the Middle East this year, and her loss to Kalinskaya is her first straight-sets defeat to anyone in nearly 12 full months: Elena Rybakina beat her 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open last March. <br /><br />7:43: Kalinskaya's win over Swiatek lasted 1 hour and 42 minutes, bringing her total time on court in main-draw matches this week to 7 hours and 43 minutes. <br /><br />1-1: Kalinskaya and Paolini have split two previous meetings, and they'll be playing for the second time in the span of four weeks. On Jan. 22, Kalinskaya was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over No.26 seed Paolini in the fourth round of the Australian Open.<div><a href="goog_1647000343"><br /></a></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3908001/by-the-numbers-kalinskaya-snaps-swiatek-s-win-streak-to-reach-dubai-final">wtatennis.com</a><br /> <p><b>Well in my last post, I did say first meetings could be tricky. It turned out to be just that for Iga. </b></p><p><b>History has often shown no top player can ever underestimate a qualifier (Raducanu is the perfect example of this). They have nothing to lose and can play more freely. Every round being a bonus financially and ranking wise. </b></p><p><b>To be fair Kalinskaya is one of those players who's capable of beating anyone when she plays well. The only reason she hasn't is because she's had a lot of injuries. </b></p><p><b>There's also a reason very few players have won the Doha/Dubai double. It is hard. You're playing back to back with no breaks. That's a lot to handle physically but also mentally. </b></p><p><b>Anyone can have an off day with so much constant pressure. Today was one of those days for Iga. </b></p><p><b>Too many unforced errors (partially caused by her opponent who continued to play at a very high level). </b></p><p><b>I admit at 4/2 I thought Iga had the first set in the bag, but one bad service game with 2 doubles changed the set and the whole match really. </b></p><p><b>Iga became more erratic and irritated to the point where she did the very rare thing of throwing her racket. </b></p><p><b>Usually it's Iga who's cool and composed under pressure (it was the thing I was most impressed with and praised in Doha last week with Rybakina in particular). </b></p><p><b>Today it was the reverse, her opponent was the one who remained poised while Iga give in to her emotions. Also a very rare occurrence. </b></p><p><b>Iga did manage to get her bearings towards the end of the match and almost made a comeback from match points down. Had that forehand gone it at breakpoint when Kalinskaya was serving for it a 2nd time and the set was even at 5/all could have been a different match. </b></p><p><b>But in the end it was too little too late, Kalinskaya served better and stayed strong mentally when it counted and won. </b></p><p><b>I have no doubt Iga will learn from this loss and come back stronger the next time they play.</b></p><p><b>It is a real shame, Iga definitely had a shot at winning Dubai this year (I think she knew it which is why she got so upset). </b></p><p><b>But that's sport, one week you win, the next you lose. Plenty of big tournaments and chances still to come this year with Indian Wells and Miami just around the corner. </b></p><p><b>We're getting closer to Iga's most dominant surface, and of course there's the Olympics this Summer. More good things to come I'm sure. </b></p><p><b>It was a great run regardless only 2 losses in 26 matches?. Something tells me Iga is not done racking up some more titles this year. Really proud of the fight she showed at the very end, battling until the last ball.</b></p><p><b>Hope she gets a bit of a well deserved breather, and regroups for the U.S. swing.</b></p><p><b>On to the next.</b></p><p><b>Jazda!</b></p></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-13257290243156379892024-02-22T22:14:00.002-05:002024-02-22T22:18:40.914-05:00Iga Swiatek in back to back Dubai semis<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZ9xzLQwXZV-OGRIPc3RIaCG0JUSbHyP_u2kZi7Dqrl_TVD3PYdjGj_LVZfgWLS9pmYV44Q4qYLNFDTTDp0m0JO7CdhxXS7J6aii_ilEAIsV6u9xdACvxh4b1PtktPlAf6edibn_78XhuhT8DXBDkBfmhUYkF7OY-qALtniH_n5BxGUjj-dZ3Mg/s845/GG9FpV0XAAE5TU8.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="845" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZ9xzLQwXZV-OGRIPc3RIaCG0JUSbHyP_u2kZi7Dqrl_TVD3PYdjGj_LVZfgWLS9pmYV44Q4qYLNFDTTDp0m0JO7CdhxXS7J6aii_ilEAIsV6u9xdACvxh4b1PtktPlAf6edibn_78XhuhT8DXBDkBfmhUYkF7OY-qALtniH_n5BxGUjj-dZ3Mg/w400-h256/GG9FpV0XAAE5TU8.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOulGG0Qb68As2WFpbE0i4ubPIhcFkNIZoNpIKUbQKaBQzOLdpWrNuWAPOHyiDzh27aTjLe-rTrhX7C-iQP4OVY-koq2uvXhBZdd-xn24k6tCiOEnAcm_f0q2wb2Cs22gXlTuvyzQ-j3ToY8IXbOsjUMX7NGnWOvn08GaP6YiUsxd9kgfA4Obhg/s666/GG9IG-EaUAAfjjr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="634" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOulGG0Qb68As2WFpbE0i4ubPIhcFkNIZoNpIKUbQKaBQzOLdpWrNuWAPOHyiDzh27aTjLe-rTrhX7C-iQP4OVY-koq2uvXhBZdd-xn24k6tCiOEnAcm_f0q2wb2Cs22gXlTuvyzQ-j3ToY8IXbOsjUMX7NGnWOvn08GaP6YiUsxd9kgfA4Obhg/w381-h400/GG9IG-EaUAAfjjr.jpg" width="381" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhfzTsY3gLS52mAqOFT5UCGi5JyNl9kdV0GRjcSSCKnEENWJ7Ml7cKS1lo40otnmPwt8LeUTcRLb6blTKWzismc1cPHVtaYpb49TyuLiMxr12haHRWEOdEiKilSn3kyW5_GiY6Gf3Npjk6lJgLaZSP7wDubgzx4YEeXz4toPlAzgObtFnuWC9zw/s4096/iga%20pink.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4096" data-original-width="3277" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhfzTsY3gLS52mAqOFT5UCGi5JyNl9kdV0GRjcSSCKnEENWJ7Ml7cKS1lo40otnmPwt8LeUTcRLb6blTKWzismc1cPHVtaYpb49TyuLiMxr12haHRWEOdEiKilSn3kyW5_GiY6Gf3Npjk6lJgLaZSP7wDubgzx4YEeXz4toPlAzgObtFnuWC9zw/w320-h400/iga%20pink.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>World No.1 Iga Swiatek's unbeaten run through the Middle East this year -- and against Zheng Qinwen -- continued on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.<div><br /></div><div>The top seed and Doha champion needed 86 minutes to beat Zheng for a sixth straight time in their head-to-head matches and second time this year to move into the semifinals of the WTA 1000 event. Swiatek extend her winning streak in the Gulf region this year to seven matches. Four of Swiatek's wins against Zheng have come on hard courts. She also dropped five games against the 2023 WTA Most Improved Player of the Year when they met at the United Cup last month. <br /><br />Swiatek never lost serve against Zheng -- she saved all three break points she faced in the match -- and broke the World No.7's serve three times to advance to a semifinal meeting with either No.3 seed Coco Gauff or qualifier Anna Kalinskaya, who play in Thursday's fourth and final quarterfinal.<br /><br /><b>Swiatek speaks:</b> Six wins against Zheng in less than two full calendar years has done little to dampen Swiatek's appreciation for the 21-year-old's talent. Swiatek posted a stat line of 17 winners to just 10 unforced errors in 17 games, more than enough to eek out a fourth hard-court win in her collection of wins against Zheng.<br /><br />"She has great power, great topspin. You have to be ready for that," the World No.1 told reporters in her postmatch press conference. "She wants to really be proactive, so you have to keep up with the intensity. I've been doing that during our matches."<br /><br /><b>Match management: </b>Zheng, to her credit, hit 19 winners to 18 unforced errors in the match -- but landed only 48% of her first serves. That proved to be the key statistic that gave Swiatek opportunities throughout the match. Zheng went just 9-for-24 on points behind her second serve. <br /><br />Swiatek won the first three games of the match -- saving a break point at 2-0 -- in what was a comprehensive set for the top seed. She denied Zheng the opportunity to get out in front early in set two by saving another break point in the third game (if converted, Zheng would've had a 3-1 lead) and sprinted to the finish line from there by winning the last four games. <div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3906872/swiatek-knocks-off-zheng-in-dubai-quarterfinals-for-seventh-straight-win">wtatennis.com</a></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Iga Swiatek is on a hot streak in the Middle East. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Something about these courts just suits her game so well. And she just gets more and more comfortable with every match. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Fun to watch when she's in this groove.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Next up will be a surprise qualifier in Kalinskaya who knocked out Ostapenko in straight sets and also upset Gauff. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>So definitely not taking her challenge lately tomorrow especially given they've never played each other. Those are always tricky. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Jazda Iga!. </b></div><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/OptaAce">OptaAce stats</a><br /><br /><i>14 - Iga Swiatek has won her last 14 matches vs top-20. This Century, only four players had a longest such streak: Venus Williams, Justine Henin, Serena Williams and … Iga Swiatek (21 in a row Doha and the WTA Finals 2022). Streak.</i><br /><br /><br /><i>12 - Iga Swiatek is now the player with the most WTA-1000 quarter-finals won after her first 13 such QFs played (12), improving the previous record held by Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty (11 each). Dominator.</i><br /><br /><br /><i>World #1 Iga Swiatek improves to 6-0 vs. #7 and AusOpen runner up Zheng Qinwen, beats the Chinese 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semifinals in Dubai. 7 consecutive wins 13 consecutive WTA 1000 wins Yet to drop sets in the Middle East...</i></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-71364307683164897752024-02-21T21:38:00.003-05:002024-02-22T21:55:44.162-05:00Iga Swiatek avenges Wimbledon loss to Svitolina moves into Dubai quarters<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYbDnXC5lVNLV7vZRUDBZr1G44_JTGS97llWadPWQpf2dFfjopOpgLDf35_o3xNLdJogKbF2Mgcn16wjmGHvg7tkXTrATatcjKuhWugRhlK-BfRiS4slmKfKCzeDtr0i7RbKRWQNNXaUmRXCDP66mpHoyUzRz_a5-IudjMy7UTd2lUgYNlrLgd5g/s2560/GG3-P5iWkAATU5x.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYbDnXC5lVNLV7vZRUDBZr1G44_JTGS97llWadPWQpf2dFfjopOpgLDf35_o3xNLdJogKbF2Mgcn16wjmGHvg7tkXTrATatcjKuhWugRhlK-BfRiS4slmKfKCzeDtr0i7RbKRWQNNXaUmRXCDP66mpHoyUzRz_a5-IudjMy7UTd2lUgYNlrLgd5g/w400-h225/GG3-P5iWkAATU5x.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div> <div><br /></div>World No.1 Iga Swiatek toppled No.15 seed and two-time former champion Elina Svitolina in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday 6-1, 6-4 to run her winning streak in the Middle East to six straight.<br /><br />The Doha champion Swiatek won seven straight games from 1-1 in the first set to put herself in good position against Svitolina -- who'd won their last meeting in three sets in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last summer -- and edged a tighter second set that saw five combined service breaks to advance to the quarterfinals in Dubai for the second year in a row. <br /><br />Stat of the match: Now 2-1 against Svitolina all-time after the 1-hour, 24-minute win, Swiatek has now won 25 of her last 26 matches dating back to a fourth-round loss to Jelena Ostaptenko at the US Open last summer and is on a 13-match winning streak against Top 20 players. <br /><br /><b>Swiatek speaks: </b>The World No.1 credited her decision-making in helping her finish off the straight-sets win. She had leads of 2-0 and 4-2 in the second set, but quelled a Svitolina rally by breaking at 4-4 -- and serving out victory after saving a break point for 5-5.<br /><br /><b>Quarterfinal outlook: </b>Up next for Swiatek is another rematch: For a spot in the final four, she'll face No.6 seed Zheng Qinwen, the Australian Open finalist, who beat Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-2.<br /><br />Swiatek is 5-0 against Zheng, but has lost a set in three of those matches. But their last meeting came just last month at the United Cup -- weeks before Zheng reached her first major final in Melbourne -- and Swiatek eased to a 6-2, 6-3 win.<br /><br />"She's progressing, but I felt like I still could play good tennis against her," Swiatek said. "I don't know about Australia because I got to say I didn't see any of her match[es]. When I lost [in the third round to Linda Noskova], I just completely cut off any tennis in my life. So it's hard for me to say.<br /><br />"She's at this moment in her career, I mean everybody is when they're 21, 22, 23, when they're improving a lot."<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3905493/swiatek-tops-former-champion-svitolina-in-dubai-third-round">wtatennis.com</a></div><div><br /></div><div>More<a href="https://twitter.com/OptaAce"> OptaAace </a>Stats</div><div><br /></div><i>9 - Iga Swiatek is the 4th player since the WTA-1000 format's introduction in 2009 the make the QFs in 9+ consecutive appearances (between Dubai 2023 - Dubai 2024) after Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska. Habit.<br /><br /><br />9 - Iga Swiatek has made the quarter-finals in nine of the 11 WTA-1000 events she took part as the World No. 1 (the only exceptions were Toronto and Cincinnati 2022). Impressive.</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br />Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-55622368182232094592024-02-20T01:26:00.057-05:002024-02-21T02:03:12.041-05:00Iga Swiatek continues winning run in Dubai<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8d8s4qylrg8QN413pyMD8c8O-oJ9s1Gb6YgOIAGrJjtGMigIr8oDmM7asZvsOK9do9L4eoC_5K3cuP0TV2ZcgJBdN0Gxk7pu9WwqfQw4FpMTR0T4kWgsXCK9uXGKonmKElnCWDP5hT8n9DUx14FJTGzPt19cGlqyWhk46jNXXJmODQULk5BmmHw/s1154/GGy8rYSXkAA0eiF.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="882" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8d8s4qylrg8QN413pyMD8c8O-oJ9s1Gb6YgOIAGrJjtGMigIr8oDmM7asZvsOK9do9L4eoC_5K3cuP0TV2ZcgJBdN0Gxk7pu9WwqfQw4FpMTR0T4kWgsXCK9uXGKonmKElnCWDP5hT8n9DUx14FJTGzPt19cGlqyWhk46jNXXJmODQULk5BmmHw/w306-h400/GGy8rYSXkAA0eiF.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAVUjZKXQCi09IOnBzpYmvN5nFGGosURl35DC61mewLIFZLlfYELmDhbeKY_e1ObSQdDA96K2i6i6suVouzyQ4AItFiXioMgZtBwTMYSfrW6aOr9z3mcBDoMpujbtxWptZJy9xND0v8Smn5RzIwHCr1YH2YMRTIT1umCGzKWH1U1orW8KAxnqdA/s1200/GGzHvMUaAAEeQ2l.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1200" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAVUjZKXQCi09IOnBzpYmvN5nFGGosURl35DC61mewLIFZLlfYELmDhbeKY_e1ObSQdDA96K2i6i6suVouzyQ4AItFiXioMgZtBwTMYSfrW6aOr9z3mcBDoMpujbtxWptZJy9xND0v8Smn5RzIwHCr1YH2YMRTIT1umCGzKWH1U1orW8KAxnqdA/w400-h255/GGzHvMUaAAEeQ2l.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8PgQyYwk-p8j-nupbFQDTGzRXCGUk7Gffl_jZCmHHlB6CDfydJm07EwwDugDAGc4-9dQINKnNJLcBdC4SxGKoW9VJmVRYE0zppMsWLribE9_mWho3wp_OxTpb0QVWBwDxOuvjR_QbXWCMXh2BmsDcApV4rKHxgWx9FtDCQck7KkcfVHGm13BYbQ/s1200/GGzHvMUasAExa78.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1200" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8PgQyYwk-p8j-nupbFQDTGzRXCGUk7Gffl_jZCmHHlB6CDfydJm07EwwDugDAGc4-9dQINKnNJLcBdC4SxGKoW9VJmVRYE0zppMsWLribE9_mWho3wp_OxTpb0QVWBwDxOuvjR_QbXWCMXh2BmsDcApV4rKHxgWx9FtDCQck7KkcfVHGm13BYbQ/w400-h263/GGzHvMUasAExa78.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><br /></p>Doha champion Iga Swiatek got off to a winning start at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-4 second-round win over American Sloane Stephens. <br /><br />After Swiatek recorded four wins to capture the Qatar TotalEnergies Open title last week, the World No.1 needed nearly 2 hours to extend her unbeaten run in the Middle East this year to five in her return to Dubai after a runner-up finish to Barbora Krejcikova in 2023. The World No.1 is bidding for her eighth career WTA 1000 title this week in Dubai, and has now won 23 of her last 24 matches dating back to last summer's US Open -- with her only loss coming in January in the third round of the Australian Open to Czech teenager Linda Noskova.<br /><br /><b>Match management: </b>With the win, Swiatek improved to 3-0 in her career against 2017 US Open champion Stephens, and has never lost a set in those matches. She came close in Tuesday's affair, though, as she was down a break three times in the first set -- at 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3. But she won three straight games (and 12 of the last 14 points) to avoid dropping a set to Stephens for the first time. <br /><br />The second set was the inverse of the first in that both women held serve across the first nine games -- and combined to save all 13 break points they faced -- before Swiatek broke Stephens' serve for a fifth and final time to wrap up the win in 1 hour and 57 minutes.<br /><br /><b>Swiatek speaks:</b> "For sure it wasn't easy. We had a lot of tight games," she told reporters after the match. "I really needed to perform a little bit better in those important moments because I couldn't convert some break points. But I'm happy that at the end I did.<br /><br />"I just need to go a level up, but just a little bit. There weren't, like, many important changes I could do to make my game better because I knew I just needed to play better just a little bit and it's all going to be fine."<br /><br /><b>Up next: </b>Swiatek will next face two-time former Dubai champion and No.15 seed Elina Svitolina for a spot in the quarterfinals. The pair have split two prior meetings, with Svitolina winning their last match in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last summer. <br /><br />"I just have to be ready and take a lesson from Wimbledon and try to play my game," Swiatek said.<br /><br />The winner of that match will face the winner of the third-round affair between No.5 seed Zheng Qinwen, the Australian Open finalist, and Anastasia Potapova. Zheng rallied from a set down to defeat Japanese qualifier Nao Hibino 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday, while Potapova rolled to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Italian lucky loser Lucia Bronzetti.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3904560/doha-champion-swiatek-beats-stephens-in-dubai-opener">wtatennis.com </a></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Some called today, winning ugly, I call it impressive. It's not easy after you've just won a title a few days before to get on a plane and start all over again with different conditions. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>But that's exactly what Iga did she won a very gritty match from a very good opponent. In terms of quality of play it was definitely the match of the day. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>The fact that Iga somehow managed to win it in straight sets despite losing serve 3 times shows how much her serve and her confidence in it has improved. And of course her impeccable return of serve skills don't hurt either.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>It would have been perfectly understandable for Iga to lose in 3 today, but her sheer mental strength pulled her through.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Next will be a chance for Iga to get some revenge for Wimbledon. A first meeting with Svitolina on a hard court. Should be fun. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>More fun <a href="https://twitter.com/OptaAce">OptaAce</a> stats</b></div><div><br /><br />88.5% - Iga Swiatek is the player with the highest winning percentage in WTA-1000 tournament’s debuts since the format was introduced in 2009 (88.5%, 23-3) - min.10 tournament’s appearances. Debut.<br /><br />72 - Iga Swiatek has won 72 of her first 90 WTA-1000 matches: after 90 matches in this kind of events, only Serena Williams had more wins since the introduction of the format in 2009 (77). Run-up.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-12516649165807262782024-02-17T23:53:00.002-05:002024-02-21T02:01:37.868-05:00Iga Swiatek makes it a historic 3-peat in Doha<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGUl8LGsEHNHk7i-wvevjKugw-BbBCoTjT0BDD8ck-eT1EwrmtMxliUSUURXaW3-5jgrzpF5YkuPyJXOiwhNHV-IzUtuD7BFXLqgJi6iyB7NN9NYOZJRq00Om4pRh1Ln1yk96HSZohEJ_F5vSmiLOvXloAf5i0Jbya6tl2E_nT_O1TjchHIsC9w/s1080/Iga%20Doha%20kiss%202%202024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGUl8LGsEHNHk7i-wvevjKugw-BbBCoTjT0BDD8ck-eT1EwrmtMxliUSUURXaW3-5jgrzpF5YkuPyJXOiwhNHV-IzUtuD7BFXLqgJi6iyB7NN9NYOZJRq00Om4pRh1Ln1yk96HSZohEJ_F5vSmiLOvXloAf5i0Jbya6tl2E_nT_O1TjchHIsC9w/w400-h400/Iga%20Doha%20kiss%202%202024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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The gusting wind was annoying -- and so were the deep, measured groundstrokes of her opponent.<br /><br />Up two breaks, Elena Rybakina was serving at 4-1 when she drew first blood -- her own, on a nasty service follow-through that scraped her left shin. The self-inflicted wound sent her to the sideline, where a trainer went through a lengthy repair process.<br /><br />Swiatek used the time wisely, discussing strategy in an animated conversation with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. As Rybakina stood for several minutes while bandages were applied, you could almost feel her momentum leaking away.<br /><br />Two points after that delay, Swiatek broke back -- and was on her way to a gripping 7-6(8), 6-2 victory. It was her third consecutive title in Doha. The last woman to three-peat at a WTA event was Serena Williams, at Miami from 2013-15.<br /><br />Seems like lately Swiatek and Serena have been frequenting a lot of the same real estate, which is a good thing. Only Serena won seven WTA 1000 titles faster than Swiatek. Serena did it in her 22nd WTA 1000 appearance. Doha was Swiatek's 25th.<br /><br />"I never knew that it's so special to win three times in a row," Swiatek said. "But I would say that it happens when you actually don't know about it, so I don't aim to break any records. I'm just playing tennis, and that's all." <br /><br />There is nothing in women’s tennis at the moment like Peak Swiatek. She’s played in 23 Hologic WTA Tour championship finals -- and won 18 of them.<br /><br />A little more perspective: This was Swiatek’s seventh WTA 1000 title. Since the format was introduced in 2009, no one has won more before her 23rd birthday.<br /><br />That's right. She’s still only 22.<br /><br />It’s easy to forget that Swiatek had lost her past three matches to Rybakina, all last year. And that her previous tournament, the Australian Open, ended in the third round with a devastating loss to teenager Linda Noskova.<br /><br />"I thought I'm gonna lose here in second round," Swiatek said. "I wasn't feeling really confident before the tournament. I didn't also have some peaceful time at home to just focus on working, so I wasn't really expecting a lot."<br /><br />"And then, you know, it felt like if you're going to give 100 percent and work hard, good things may come."<br /><br />After sailing through to the final, this was the first serious adversity she’d faced in Doha. Swiatek dropped only 11 games in her first three matches, then received a walkover when Karolina Pliskova withdrew in the semifinals. Both Swiatek and Rybakina saw their serves broken three times when the first set arrived at that tiebreaker.<br /><br />At 8-all, Swiatek stroked a smooth backhand winner down the line and summoned a Rafa-esque fist pump (and what might have been the Polish equivalent of “Vamos!”). On her fourth set point, Swiatek punched a short backhand pass and salvaged a seemingly unsalvageable set.<br /><br />The Rafa reference was no random act. Swiatek, of course, adores Rafael Nadal. Her heavy top-spinning forehand was patterned after his and, two years ago at the Australian Open, she was a witness to one of his greatest comebacks.<br /><br />At 35 years old, Nadal lost the first set to Daniil Medvedev, 10 years his junior. Somehow, Nadal came back to win his 21st major. Swiatek was there, nestled in amongst the crowd on Rod Laver Arena, and absorbing another Master Class in the meaning of clutch into her memory bank.<br /><br />Surrounded by the best athletes in the world, Swiatek is freakishly endowed. But while her athleticism is truly exceptional, maybe we should give more credit to her grit. On Saturday, she started without her best stuff and found a path to survival in that 90-minute first set, saving a set point in the process. Once ahead, she was relentless.<br /><br />For three years now, Doha has been the spark that’s ignited Swiatek’s season.<br /><br />Two years ago, ranked No.8 at the age of 20, she blasted her way through three Top 10 players to win it for the first time. A 37-match win streak and eight titles ensued and Swiatek finished 2022 as the World No.1.<br /><br />After defending her Doha crown last year, the degree of difficulty was greater. If 2022 saw Swiatek break away, 2023 was about holding off the closing pack. There were fewer titles -- though the six she did win still set the mark -- and she had to win her last 11 matches of the year, but the result was the same. She finished on top of the rankings ladder once again.<br /><br />This year? After winning the first WTA 1000 title of the season, Swiatek has shown she's not ready to get lapped anytime soon. In fact, the win only widened her lead on the rankings table, pushing her over 10,000 points and putting her nearly 1,400 points clear of Sabalenka.<br /><br />"I wouldn't say, like, one tournament is a specific goal for me, because at the end, I was proud of each of my seasons no matter which tournament I won or what happened," Swiatek said. "You're just happy that you can overcome obstacles and work hard.<br /><br />"Sometimes the titles are more for Wikipedia than for you, but this season, yeah, I'm just taking it easy step by step and week by week."<br /><br />The best four players in the world are beginning to separate themselves from the field. Rybakina who has already pockted two titles and leads the tour in wins, forced Swiatek to red-line her effort for 90 minutes in that gargantuan first set. Going forward, she’ll be a constant threat.<br /><br />World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka is coming off her second straight Australian Open title and well rested after skipping Doha. No.3 Coco Gauff, who won the previous Grand Slam, turns 20 next month.<br /><br />How will it play out?<br /><br />They’re all entered in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Play begins Sunday.<span face="CreatoDisplay, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span><div><p><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3900716/swiatek-finds-her-spark-once-again-with-doha-three-peat">wtatennis.com</a></p><p><b>I said I was expecting a great battle, and that's exactly what we got. Boy, did we ever!. I also mentioned it'd go Iga's way if she stayed close on serve. </b></p><p><b>F</b><b>or a while there things really didn't look good 1-4 down in the first. But wow, what an impressive turnaround. </b></p><p><b>She may not have been able to hold in her service games at the start of the match, but staying calm definitely played a big part in winning that first (which was key given Iga is something like 59-0 when winning the first set). Which is astounding. </b></p><p><b>It was one of the most impressive comeback's I've seen from Iga in a while. </b></p><p><b>Of course we had the one with Collin's at Aussie Open, this one was more so because it was against one of Iga's biggest rivals, someone who she feels very uncomfortable against game-wise, someone who has had her number for pretty much all of last year. </b></p><p><b>The mental fortitude she showed was something else, and the rallies were equally as excellent. It may not have been a quality match all the way through due to the windy conditions. But what they were both able to do despite that deserves a lot of praise. </b></p><p><b>A fantastic final with Iga pulling off the historic hat trick in Doha. Not a bad way to recover from an early Aussie Open loss. </b></p><p><b>On to Dubai, Jazda!.</b></p><p><br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-41147889417594504452024-02-16T20:27:00.005-05:002024-02-16T20:27:52.577-05:00Iga Swiatek makes 3rd consecutive Doha final courtesy of Pliskova withdrawThe fifth edition of Iga Swiatek's rivalry with Elena Rybakina will take place in the Qatar TotalEnergies Open final on Saturday.<br /><br />No.1 seed and two-time defending champion Swiatek advanced to her third straight final in Doha after Karolina Pliskova withdrew from their scheduled semifinal match on Friday due to a lower back injury. No.3 seed Rybakina joined her after defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-4 to reach her third final of 2024.<br /><br />Pliskova had won her last nine matches prior to the withdrawal, having won her first title in four years last week at the WTA 250 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She defeated Anna Kalinskaya, Anastasia Potapova, Linda Noskova and Naomi Osaka this week. Her first three victories came in three sets, <a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3896661/swiatek-eases-into-doha-semifinals-pliskova-tops-osaka-in-two-tiebreaks">and she defeated Osaka in a pair of tiebreaks on Thursday</a> -- handing the four-time Grand Slam winner a loss for the second time in four tournaments in her comeback from maternity leave so far.<br /><br />"Sorry for the tournament that I had to withdraw, but unfortunately I had too many matches in last couple of days, and my body just didn't react well, especially after last night having a tough match against Naomi," Pliskova said.<br /><br />"I felt like I was pushing it a little bit over limit, and then I felt very big pain in my lower back, so I'm not able to compete anymore."<br /><br />The walkover is not counted towards Swiatek's official win-loss record against Pliskova or otherwise, nor does it end Pliskova's unbeaten streak.<br /><br />Swiatek will enter Saturday's final on an 11-match winning streak in Doha, having won her last 21 sets at the tournament. Overall, her career win-loss record at the event is 12-1, with her only defeat coming in the 2020 second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova. The World No.1 is looking to become the first woman to win three straight titles at a single Hologic WTA Tour event since Serena Williams completed a hat trick at the Miami Open from 2013-15.<br /><br /><b>Swiatek vs. Rybakina V<br /></b><br />Swiatek and Rybakina split two junior meetings in 2016 and 2017, and have played each other four times at pro level, with Rybakina leading 3-1. The Pole took their first meeting 7-6(5), 6-2 in the 2021 Ostrava quarterfinals, but Rybakina announced herself as one of Swiatek's greatest threats with a trio of victories in 2023.<br /><br />Rybakina has won both of their previous matches on outdoor hard courts in straight sets, in the fourth round of the Australian Open and the Indian Wells semifinals last year. They have not played since the Rome quarterfinals last May, which Rybakina took after Swiatek retired at 2-2 in the third set due to a thigh injury.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3897431/rybakina-to-meet-swiatek-in-doha-final-after-pliskova-withdraws">wtatennis.com</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Well it's been a long time coming. The match up a lot of fans have been dreading has finally arrived.</b></div><div><b> </b></div><div><b>They've been avoiding each other in finals for the past year, so it had to happen at some point. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>I think the fact it's happening in Doha of all places is good for Iga. She feels very comfortable here, the slow courts really suit her game. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>As long as she stays calm and stays close with Rybakina on serve she will definitely take it. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>She has been working on changing her service motion this season in order to deal with people like Rybakina so tomorrow she'll finally be able to put it to the test. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>The last 2 meetings Iga had with Rybakina she wasn't fully fit. Indian Wells she had a rib issue and Rome the thigh problem, so I'd hardly call those fair wins. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>This time Iga is fully fit and had a day off between the matches. I'm expecting a great battle. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Jazda Iga we believe in you!.</b></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-57141004044046103872024-02-15T19:47:00.000-05:002024-02-16T20:28:04.446-05:00Iga Swiatek back in the semis of Doha<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rJRLe-O7-yswhsGqvWo1A6toJdJDiRh_Z2MlY1UrIY_EwvyrNb1WVhS-wtfxtHQVyKsJy1ZaGPpsG71T-NcJgtebynE9LEvy1v4RvgVle4HfUObk0MdyBeFDs2PQru1b5ukBhYy_J3yJuKToOu6PypIzwSJcJhj1idyb-EkQxFDHTknpc5GPrg/s1024/GGdp7qQXMAAtN1f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rJRLe-O7-yswhsGqvWo1A6toJdJDiRh_Z2MlY1UrIY_EwvyrNb1WVhS-wtfxtHQVyKsJy1ZaGPpsG71T-NcJgtebynE9LEvy1v4RvgVle4HfUObk0MdyBeFDs2PQru1b5ukBhYy_J3yJuKToOu6PypIzwSJcJhj1idyb-EkQxFDHTknpc5GPrg/w400-h300/GGdp7qQXMAAtN1f.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCP9yB2DgAaH5hoo-6_ah6D_uF6fhN2mG-OZzBs6ecMAs7KdAe3afwvQdT5RVNmMtnVwXQZMeghrTOWFExKBHAX-Rtypbt3kTFr9mgkmWQk_FigXYKgDVFVVNVeiSPvuiPr05p57UW3UkLo9qUxWQ7rNl9C2Ygx3BlFKBWjbA_kXNlMXzSLsq1g/s2048/GGZ75LJXAAAeppC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1452" data-original-width="2048" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCP9yB2DgAaH5hoo-6_ah6D_uF6fhN2mG-OZzBs6ecMAs7KdAe3afwvQdT5RVNmMtnVwXQZMeghrTOWFExKBHAX-Rtypbt3kTFr9mgkmWQk_FigXYKgDVFVVNVeiSPvuiPr05p57UW3UkLo9qUxWQ7rNl9C2Ygx3BlFKBWjbA_kXNlMXzSLsq1g/w400-h284/GGZ75LJXAAAeppC.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBhpqOwBlGIDWe1vdjjgNAS8EcUk1NV6wWeu_Zi9TydR7ELYYr7JJWtMIB61RDueXyXK1lH5atOsiSSAywWchmCDE0eWbo3HM_ZCeO1U-mnsuS1AHcFq_cIUXn-EB4ab7w8jLG5XQSvTDHpX2lthG7CwlOJ2qoI6QuzG0EJbJo8xj1bdxgXKxdQ/s1200/GGZcbLGXYAAWdig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBhpqOwBlGIDWe1vdjjgNAS8EcUk1NV6wWeu_Zi9TydR7ELYYr7JJWtMIB61RDueXyXK1lH5atOsiSSAywWchmCDE0eWbo3HM_ZCeO1U-mnsuS1AHcFq_cIUXn-EB4ab7w8jLG5XQSvTDHpX2lthG7CwlOJ2qoI6QuzG0EJbJo8xj1bdxgXKxdQ/w400-h266/GGZcbLGXYAAWdig.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><br /><br /><br /> World No.1 Iga Swiatek's attempt to win three straight Qatar TotalEnergies Open titles is still alive after a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Victoria Azarenka in Thursday's quarterfinals.<br /><br />In a matchup between a pair of two-time Doha champions, Swiatek needed 1 hour and 14 minutes to oust former World No.1 Azarenka and reach the semifinals. Swiatek is now 3-1 lifetime against Azarenka, with wins in their past three meetings.<br /><br />In the semifinals, Swiatek will face another former World No.1 when she takes on Karolina Pliskova. The 2017 Doha champion Pliskova defeated yet another former World No.1 in the nightcap quarterfinal, squeaking past Naomi Osaka 7-6(6), 7-6(5).<br /><br />Pliskova continues her own current winning streak on tour. With her 1-hour and 43-minute victory over Osaka, the Czech has won her last nine matches -- in the last 10 days .<br /><br />Looking ahead to their semifinal showdown, Swiatek is 3-0 against Pliskova, including two wins last year.<br /><br />Swiatek streak continues: Top-seeded Swiatek is up to 11 straight match-wins at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open. Overall, her career win-loss record at the event is 12-1, with her only defeat coming in the 2020 second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.<br /><br />"I felt like I started a little bit playing too aggressively maybe, but then I found my rhythm and the proper way to play," Swiatek said about her win over Azarenka. "I kept it till the end of the match. I'm happy that I could analyze during the match and then take a lesson from that."<br /><br />Like Swiatek, Azarenka won her Doha titles back-to-back, over a decade ago in 2012 and 2013. Azarenka brought her Doha championship experience to the first set and was a point away from breaking Swiatek for a 5-3 lead.<br /><br />But the top seed got out of that jam, then earned a break point of her own at 4-4 behind a barrage of blistering backhands. Azarenka double faulted to cede that game and put Swiatek up a break, and the Pole routinely served out the set from there.<br /><br />The second set was much more straightforward, as Swiatek romped through it without facing a break point. Swiatek went 5-for-6 on break points on the day, and she ended the match with 17 winners to just five from Azarenka.<br /><br />Swiatek is still bidding to become the first player to win a Hologic WTA Tour event three consecutive times since Serena Williams prevailed at the Miami Open in 2013, 2014 and 2015.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3896661/swiatek-eases-into-doha-semifinals-pliskova-tops-osaka-in-two-tiebreaks">wtatennis.com</a></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-54746527620381111602024-02-14T00:42:00.000-05:002024-02-15T00:43:39.414-05:00Iga Swiatek back in 3rd straight quarterfinal of Doha<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4LHaGe8wcpuxPr66d3EOA3PpHvD3oz0j6v3IJgbkY9Elq_9KQ5grOAIxdxvK9_8PzmHMJNmwUtwqNOoyirGENUbSV6mgMj2vXLSJIzZ3NghtJvIhoQiCF70fcnF_Wz9Hkcw1Rn2M-rotJktpEMQRqkFYPriZi1HW3iWmgvHhDwr1a1wx74kCLA/s1200/iga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1200" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4LHaGe8wcpuxPr66d3EOA3PpHvD3oz0j6v3IJgbkY9Elq_9KQ5grOAIxdxvK9_8PzmHMJNmwUtwqNOoyirGENUbSV6mgMj2vXLSJIzZ3NghtJvIhoQiCF70fcnF_Wz9Hkcw1Rn2M-rotJktpEMQRqkFYPriZi1HW3iWmgvHhDwr1a1wx74kCLA/w400-h280/iga.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1JW_khk99P859fChM9i3oAmM-fw6bWfzfla0NzFTg8TTvy1_gfkQz5qnQPC5rLbOKyTBVVUayfRq9Xo-8hocrHHj04pINZP2KRiAKDmmBd6RUjlXzPWckgSmHGRKgUsnX881c_DiJVjUdbbqg1gyvBnDts2HAPLWRUUO4cxA-p95Iim-MqrDOQ/s1200/GGUfIlWWIAAOzyh.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="1200" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1JW_khk99P859fChM9i3oAmM-fw6bWfzfla0NzFTg8TTvy1_gfkQz5qnQPC5rLbOKyTBVVUayfRq9Xo-8hocrHHj04pINZP2KRiAKDmmBd6RUjlXzPWckgSmHGRKgUsnX881c_DiJVjUdbbqg1gyvBnDts2HAPLWRUUO4cxA-p95Iim-MqrDOQ/w400-h270/GGUfIlWWIAAOzyh.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="1200" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMb8q2d-XwRfnqVDtTTxzv6YvWrXjWNSroGsNmyz1BtLFCDw5qjdwGSWfU58KvPoPoaZ_3ilg_iaM-vdpyhBrMgOzBwArGnZXuG9qRL_q39b0EWTEtUgR81jAWyoHjMlskBnTpge9FW4MkX9Z2ifZ5YVFDTo1F2icjflRCwQiX14h-sbzvtmz9nQ/w400-h265/GGUfIlJXMAAKwdA.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQlrEvl8xwpwyDpCJp8hrhWgF8y1IZkf8lY6O1taaUbqZ3mePqO5VFAZ2EN1kV2O9NcYr27GHM49D5tE-a3KspUwduDIq0NLy8kdakKgd8UXI9UatvpBVRutoGgZl8Z_uN6sF00-J1puRkmvYZgyCUNbVH7tCILRVfk602u-8sd2s1x6-JEs_YDg/s1200/GGUeoSLXkAA7uwd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="1200" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQlrEvl8xwpwyDpCJp8hrhWgF8y1IZkf8lY6O1taaUbqZ3mePqO5VFAZ2EN1kV2O9NcYr27GHM49D5tE-a3KspUwduDIq0NLy8kdakKgd8UXI9UatvpBVRutoGgZl8Z_uN6sF00-J1puRkmvYZgyCUNbVH7tCILRVfk602u-8sd2s1x6-JEs_YDg/w400-h265/GGUeoSLXkAA7uwd.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8x58r3B_RxgI275zESzrIvQheizG60dRgvcC1_yq7HYYEHXQ5XtJEs2VGyxJmNdDA8uoxlTc1uTbi4FRPMOJYaCXpoLITb-YOBFxkc4Ruo13ywwJ96RNALzOFtjn1_nA4de6kmrwvpBIaIJgYsO8fUBOkiULQ7DnIaJWB9skgkSenFdeWf-PfbQ/s1200/GGUebGxWYAAIUL8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1200" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8x58r3B_RxgI275zESzrIvQheizG60dRgvcC1_yq7HYYEHXQ5XtJEs2VGyxJmNdDA8uoxlTc1uTbi4FRPMOJYaCXpoLITb-YOBFxkc4Ruo13ywwJ96RNALzOFtjn1_nA4de6kmrwvpBIaIJgYsO8fUBOkiULQ7DnIaJWB9skgkSenFdeWf-PfbQ/w400-h265/GGUebGxWYAAIUL8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><br /><br />World No.1 Iga Swiatek extended her impressive Qatar TotalEnergies Open winning streak by defeating No.14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 6-4 in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.<br /><br />Two-time defending champion Swiatek has now won 10 straight matches at the tournament after besting Alexandrova in their Doha evening showdown. Swiatek improves to 3-1 against Alexandrova with the 1-hour and 31-minute victory.<br /><br />Swiatek will now play another two-time Doha champion, Victoria Azarenka, in the quarterfinals. Former World No.1 Azarenka beat No.8 seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 6-3 in the night match, for her third win over Ostapenko already this year.<br /><br /><b>Swiatek's Doha dominance: </b>Overall, Swiatek is 11-1 in Doha, with her lone loss at the tournament coming to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 2020 second round. The Polish player has not dropped a set at the event since her 2022 first-round match against Viktorija Golubic.<br /><br />By knocking out World No.19 Alexandrova, Swiatek has won her last 11 matches against Top 20 opposition, and is 4-0 against that group so far this year. Swiatek's last loss to a fellow member of the Top 20 was to Veronika Kudermetova in the Tokyo quarterfinals last September.<br /><br /><b>Break points fended off:</b> Swiatek needed to save three separate groupings of break points against Alexandrova, who had patches of exceptionally big hitting. Swiatek staved off two break points in the opening game, then four more in the first game of the second set.<br /><br />The trickiest game was the last one of the match, where Swiatek saw four match points disappear, with a break point for Alexandrova on either side of that quartet.<br /><br />Alexandrova came up with stellar returns to erase Swiatek's first four match points, as she tried to pull the second set back on serve. However, Swiatek came through on her fifth match point and she successfully finished the match 8-for-8 on break points saved.<br /><br /><b>Azarenka beats Ostapenko again: </b>Four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek will now face two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka in Thursday's quarterfinals. Swiatek is 2-1 against Azarenka, and Swiatek has won their two most recent matches.<br /><br />Azarenka, the Doha champion in back-to-back years in 2012 and 2013, cruised past Ostapenko in 1 hour and 28 minutes in the nightcap. With her Wednesday night win, Azarenka has extended her undefeated record against Ostapenko to 5-0 (3-0 in 2024).<br /><br />For now, Ostapenko is still this year's match-win leader, with 14 victories so far in 2024 -- but all three of her losses this season have come at the hands of Azarenka.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3895772/swiatek-books-third-straight-doha-quarterfinal-spot-faces-azarenka-next">wtatennis.com</a></div><br /><b><br /><i>8 - Iga Swiatek is the fifth player to make the quarter-finals for 8+ consecutive WTA-1000 appearances since the format introduction in 2009 after Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Ashleigh Barty. Routine.<br /><br /><br />10 - Iga Swiatek has become the fourth player to win 10+ consecutive matches at the Qatar Open since the inception of the tournament in 2001, after Victoria Azarenka (14 wins in a row), Maria Sharapova (12) and Petra Kvitova (also 10). Feeling.<br /><br /><br />11 - Iga Swiatek has won her last 11 matches v top-20 (her such longest such winning streak is 21): she is the 5th player in 2000s with multiple streaks of more than 10 top-20 wins in a row - after Henin, Davenport and Williams sisters. Turbo.<br /><br /><br />3 - Only Agnieszka Radwanska (five in a row between 2012 and 2016) has made more consecutive quarter-finals at the Qatar Open than Iga Swiatek since the inception of the tournament in 2001 (three, 2022-2024). Aga-Iga.<br /><br /><br />7.2 - Iga Swiatek is the player with the fewest games dropped on average per match in WTA-1000 events since the introduction of the format in 2009 (7.2) - Serena Williams is the second-best with 7.8. Flawless.</i></b><div><br /></div><div>These stats from <a href="https://twitter.com/OptaAce">OptaAce</a> are always fun :)<br /><div><div><br /></div></div></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-3375563079007202622024-02-13T23:43:00.002-05:002024-02-13T23:43:40.312-05:00Iga Swiatek starts Doha title defense with dominant win<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqgtHxGCcAbLJDqNuYbmEcjdHFdMZKaxlalqJH1URaEm1z9vZZ0OwlzxJFiw7LllYQaj7LlHwAEQLx4La4kTOIO2mHNNxHNBYHPN13QYvPcpDYbNXO04L1aWVomIX4lN7l06TJdqQMcd8GQqMAg3CINF1H8XS_GEYBVg3wCpZUg2gg4e7vE669Q/s4096/GGKk490XwAAIF35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2741" data-original-width="4096" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqgtHxGCcAbLJDqNuYbmEcjdHFdMZKaxlalqJH1URaEm1z9vZZ0OwlzxJFiw7LllYQaj7LlHwAEQLx4La4kTOIO2mHNNxHNBYHPN13QYvPcpDYbNXO04L1aWVomIX4lN7l06TJdqQMcd8GQqMAg3CINF1H8XS_GEYBVg3wCpZUg2gg4e7vE669Q/w400-h268/GGKk490XwAAIF35.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCRwDThEGJfpwrOjnSa5bdoFpbV6K2asDF-7rKpm8PYmIo2qZLdqs5r7qrQerVMSx4VuRAEbKYNCfVlCnylp2zFLdMvF4GDM22bHIzYLNp0SyM7j_RgP0YjQBgPHSaozYoxt7kMAi0vyPRKKzALriOAAfrsMDYdgQQGu-jx3f_5wMQgM_51FzQA/s1200/GGLEnpsWMAAcbc7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="785" data-original-width="1200" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCRwDThEGJfpwrOjnSa5bdoFpbV6K2asDF-7rKpm8PYmIo2qZLdqs5r7qrQerVMSx4VuRAEbKYNCfVlCnylp2zFLdMvF4GDM22bHIzYLNp0SyM7j_RgP0YjQBgPHSaozYoxt7kMAi0vyPRKKzALriOAAfrsMDYdgQQGu-jx3f_5wMQgM_51FzQA/w400-h261/GGLEnpsWMAAcbc7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEignczhZFavE_KRQr2LjrK-yuMKRmp8R0zzqH7OWG3O-jch80FqtnSSOnpvvm3_mc9B8-qYLuvV7tEKnFuOMhtna-LTcNlOfxvIqgDL2ObO-m0DpQMzPUWPz3pvH4YFdMz68aMK1JAs7bsQYa5Bd2dZ6FunBSeONqXe_Vaa2U4Rqwg-OPxVfCFqJw/s1200/GGLEnpvWMAE1zvi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="1200" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEignczhZFavE_KRQr2LjrK-yuMKRmp8R0zzqH7OWG3O-jch80FqtnSSOnpvvm3_mc9B8-qYLuvV7tEKnFuOMhtna-LTcNlOfxvIqgDL2ObO-m0DpQMzPUWPz3pvH4YFdMz68aMK1JAs7bsQYa5Bd2dZ6FunBSeONqXe_Vaa2U4Rqwg-OPxVfCFqJw/w400-h265/GGLEnpvWMAE1zvi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <br /><br />Two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek needed just 61 minutes to open her latest campaign at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open with a victory, as the World No.1 defeated Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-1 in Monday's second round. <br /><br />Swiatek is one of five women who've won the singles title in Doha twice, and is seeking to becoming the first to win three titles at the event, which dates back to 2001. The Pole is trying to become the first player to win at any Hologic WTA Tour event for a third consecutive year since Serena Williams won in Miami from 2013-15. <br /><br />She got off to the races quickly towards that overall goal. Against Cirstea, she won five straight games in the first set, and six in a row to take the second to advance to a third-round meeting with either Erika Andreeva or No.14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.<br /><br />Read on for more facts and stats from Swiatek's opening triumph.<br /><br /><b>9: </b>Swiatek has won her last nine matches in Doha, which includes a streak of 15 straight sets. In the first match of her 2022 victory, she defeated Viktorija Golubic in three sets, and hasn't lost a set in Qatar since then. <br /><br /><b>3: </b>Swiatek is now 3-0 in her career against Cirstea, and all three wins have come on hard courts. Previously, she was a 6-2, 6-3 winner in Indian Wells last spring, and won in three sets at the 2022 Australian Open. <br /><br /><b>0:</b> Swiatek did not face a break point in the match, and broke Cirstea six times overall. Swiatek only lost eight points in seven service games.<br /><br />"I'm happy with my performance, and I feel like it was a really solid match," the top seed said afterwards. "I kind of felt like I was able to keep my focus from the beginning 'til the end.<br /><br />"After every game I was more confident and I could even relax a little bit more at the end. So I'm happy that I just played solid."<br /><br /><b>4:</b> Though she boasts 21 career wins against Top 10 players, Cirstea is now 0-4 in her career against reigning World No.1s. <br /><br /><b>68:</b> The win is Swiatek's 68th at a WTA 1000 event. Only Caroline Wozniacki (89) and Victoria Azarenka (79) recorded more victories at the tournament level before turning 23. <p></p><p><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3893316/by-the-numbers-swiatek-rolls-past-cirstea-in-doha-opener">wtatennis.com</a></p>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-47739176239427834322024-01-20T19:40:00.006-05:002024-01-21T01:45:44.605-05:00Iga Swiatek's Australian Open journey ends with a positive outlook<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZJH0grEz9BvpGTiD_hbBfOxF9YANim1R1Ms63Iebbbo77Jup-xD3-ml69oLJ-E2LW2k-T_4pqC7BRiHsuOJgL6HqudlpC_lqEOhT_ypatAa0i_ecYyAM3cPpFjKwYOOAipG85FWwr0OC6nq2AtoELW63sIao6AisDP2Jb7-KRTm0mlTeQj0jrg/s3333/GERjLGKaQAA_RX2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3333" data-original-width="3333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZJH0grEz9BvpGTiD_hbBfOxF9YANim1R1Ms63Iebbbo77Jup-xD3-ml69oLJ-E2LW2k-T_4pqC7BRiHsuOJgL6HqudlpC_lqEOhT_ypatAa0i_ecYyAM3cPpFjKwYOOAipG85FWwr0OC6nq2AtoELW63sIao6AisDP2Jb7-KRTm0mlTeQj0jrg/w400-h400/GERjLGKaQAA_RX2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMy9_FA5bRUQtDiGHEQFtHABE23Cdwpa7cEbmC-YYGSm-Vu8cvz-5_-ju0DENLSSk4JLKGg0QWYsGOfnFjHmrvh_dkb4ABgs3Pycd4WZTVOSMKn4sxOu97hFZL8j4ivPY3zzjalnUVdIaEbYMQmCz6XlKgmgF44BahSIztrkhfyQCdG_l-CUXFQ/s3425/GERmw5xbsAAGVw4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3425" data-original-width="2736" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMy9_FA5bRUQtDiGHEQFtHABE23Cdwpa7cEbmC-YYGSm-Vu8cvz-5_-ju0DENLSSk4JLKGg0QWYsGOfnFjHmrvh_dkb4ABgs3Pycd4WZTVOSMKn4sxOu97hFZL8j4ivPY3zzjalnUVdIaEbYMQmCz6XlKgmgF44BahSIztrkhfyQCdG_l-CUXFQ/w320-h400/GERmw5xbsAAGVw4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1gN0jPWEx4rbaWa8ZJJg4mmkBkkolffszXNSnMrxNI1J1iOokmoCk08sTsCVe5Xb6mBW5hUTaXy-haadbEertH_uj8eFf3yNhTO4KZX8fnLsQAl9P6cRvWJystw7xGeXaONyLiP_KjYW5waA9uk6_X6N-Efre3YbnsmHIk1D-vBCIwVFvpxdVg/s2048/GERXoEmX0AAiLdu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1gN0jPWEx4rbaWa8ZJJg4mmkBkkolffszXNSnMrxNI1J1iOokmoCk08sTsCVe5Xb6mBW5hUTaXy-haadbEertH_uj8eFf3yNhTO4KZX8fnLsQAl9P6cRvWJystw7xGeXaONyLiP_KjYW5waA9uk6_X6N-Efre3YbnsmHIk1D-vBCIwVFvpxdVg/w400-h266/GERXoEmX0AAiLdu.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><b>MELBOURNE --</b> World No.1 Iga Swiatek dismissed any concerns after her surprising third-round loss at the Australian Open at the hands of 19-year-old Czech Linda Noskova. In fact, in comparison to her Round of 16 loss to Elena Rybakina in 2023, Swiatek says she leaves Melbourne with a healthier perspective. <br /><br />"Last year, I felt like much more off the balance," Swiatek told reporters after the match. "I felt like the whole season may be just tough because of the start. I was expecting much more. <br /><br />"This year I was more focused on just not the results and not the rankings but my game a little bit more. This year I feel like I just want to get back to work. I know I'm going to have plenty of chances during the season to show my game."<br /><br />Swiatek leaves Australia with a 7-1 start to her season. After going undefeated at the United Cup for Poland, she picked up two more wins in Melbourne to take her win streak, the second longest of her career, to 18 matches. Noskova ended the streak there with a fearless display of aggressive baseline tennis.<br /><br />Swiatek has not progressed past the Round of 16 in Melbourne since making the semifinals in 2021. Despite her scintillating performances in Perth and Sydney to start the year, the 21-year-old Swiatek admitted something just didn't click this year when she arrived at Melbourne Park. <br /><br />"For sure I was more stressed than on other tournaments, especially first two rounds," she said. "But I think some things just didn't work as they did before, even though I was working the same way. <br /><br />"I feel like I did really everything I could in preseason to improve some stuff that I wanted to. Then I came here and I wasn't playing natural anymore. My split step was too late sometimes. Reaction a little bit slower."<br /><br />Regardless of what happens for the remainder of the tournament, Swiatek's No.1 ranking remains intact. With World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka defending 2,000 points from her title run last year, Swiatek will remain No.1 into February. Her next scheduled stops will be the back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments in Doha, where she is the two-time defending champion, and Dubai, where she made the final last year.<br /><br />"I lost but I'm going to have more tournaments," Swiatek said. "I remember just last year getting back to work. I could reset and just focus on the next tournaments. So I'm going to do the same this year."<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3862750/swiatek-s-australian-open-journey-ends-with-a-positive-outlook">wtatennis.com</a><br /><p><b>It's been a few hours, and a very late night (morning really) and I'm still processing it all. Strangely this loss doesn't hurt as bad as some of the others. Maybe because I went into it with low expectations after seeing Iga's draw. </b></p><p><b>But as is often the case my hopes/expectations rose when 2 of Iga's difficult rivals Rybakina and Ostapenko went out of the tournament (one right before her match). </b></p><p><b>I often blame the media for jumping the gun and hyping things up when something like this happens because no matter what in this sport the old adage of one match at a time still applies. </b></p><p><b>All in all Iga didn't play a bad match far from it in fact. It was high quality from both. She didn't give up and fought to the end. </b></p><p><b>I thought they were actually pretty evenly matched overall. Difference was her opponent was steadier in the key moments and even at the very end. </b></p><p><b>Solid over all with blistering backhands that caused Iga all kinds of trouble. And a much better serve on the day. </b></p><p><b>The first serve allowed her to get a lot of free points (had a total of 10 aces). Compared to Iga who couldn't find her fist serve in the final set especially and it made things exponentially harder. Having to fight in every service game just to stay even. </b></p><p><b>There was a moment where Noskova was serving for the match where Iga give it one last push and had love 30 if not for a bad volley at the net the whole outcome of the match could have changed (with her opponent having to defend 3 breakpoints instead). But there's no point in wondering about what ifs. </b></p><p><b>After losing the first set her opponent changed tactics and seemed to relax more (probably because she felt like she had nothing to lose) whereas it was the opposite for Iga. She was the one who got more tense as it went on. </b></p><p><b>A lot of people on social media kept mentioning that Iga wasn't playing at her best level from the start (not the way she was at United cup and the end of the year) forehand wasn't working lot's of errors etc. and sure there's probably a lot of truth in that. </b></p><p><b>I thought that maybe one of the reasons for this performance was that Iga's first 2 matches were quite long and taxing not just physically but mentally as well. </b></p><p><b>Something she's never really had to deal with before typically taking care of her opponents with ease in the early rounds of a Slam.</b></p><p><b>It would have certainly explained her concentration lapses and why she kept getting distracted with people moving round between games (which she knew is the new rule being introduced). </b></p><p><b>However Iga herself disputed all this in her post match interview presser so I guess I'm way off base there.</b></p><p><b>The Australian Open just continues to be a place she's not comfortable at, or I guess more specifically the fast paced courts. </b></p><p><b>For the moment it remains one of Iga's worst Grand Slams (2nd only to the grass of Wimbledon), but while it may not have worked out this year again I firmly believe that with Iga being only 22, one day everything will align and the title will be hers.</b></p><p><b>And it'll feel all the more sweet when it happens. </b></p><p><b>So while the disappointment may be big right now for both Iga and her fans, in the grand scheme of things it'll be okay. </b></p><p><b>This is only the first tournament of the year after all we have a whole season of tournaments ahead. Plus the Olympics which I know Iga will be making a priority.</b></p><p><b>It may not have been her best level, or the result we all wanted. But I enjoyed what we got and I'm proud of the fight nonetheless. I think we as fans often take her losses harder than Iga herself which is one of the weirdest things about sport really. </b></p><p><b>I was glad to see that the messages people were sending her after this loss were largely positive instead of all the hate she and her team kept receiving last year. Good to know people learned to censor themselves before spewing their anger on social media. </b></p><p><b>I hope she gets some well deserved rest and relaxation now and allows that knee of hers to heal a bit. Before getting back to work next month. </b></p><p><b>On to the Middle East.</b></p><p><b>Jazda!</b></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-41964072069906287292024-01-17T16:24:00.114-05:002024-01-19T17:07:12.837-05:00Iga Swiatek comes back from brink of defeat to reach Aussie Open 3rd round<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLtici8rOTaQEeIJ-a57g7PspQDnsnjHYKaszz4gjPOKidyUhHPPawT-WF9gQmRXpCCkHh8H4qCFXWvJPAxous5vK4NJhLkS0UhJAAh0Mkg05ESuG7fqYJA9f-H3GbIkAnVdFd2HGvljl9jSlZhjrW3tSzVt7H6FAbl2YbWY9KVq0ApKjbYZB_A/s1152/GEGQdHSWQAALaXq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aLgQ5YQIN0R6V-TjdbwqzyqI2bR9omaV0FVtyWVmtjwmai6-_ae4hCqNKFPMzK7ACUeg7wKF4WQoCCN2WWd6lGzW7BGRyHVS-s5pBi24s_LJtYQkXsw7-VAu-EoqmFJnyEDN3CAsyo8cOaGpCtRKaje9y0gsyCl-PqdQmC2F3Kpq1UNDQ0ehSg/w320-h400/GEHeixeXQAEPmoC.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><br /><br /><br /><b> MELBOURNE --</b> Iga Swiatek was taken to the limit by Danielle Collins, but the World No.1 came from a double-break down in the third set to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round of the Australian Open. Swiatek trailed 4-1 in the final set before winning five consecutive games to cap off a stunning comeback. <br /><br />"Oh my god, I was at the airport already," Swiatek said jokingly on the court.<br /><br />"It wasn't easy. I felt like I had the momentum going and then she started playing suddenly two times faster and I had no idea how to react to that for a couple of games. But I came back, and I thought the only thing I could focus on was myself. I stopped caring how she's going to play, I just focused on myself."<br /><br />The victory extended Swiatek's active win streak to 18 consecutive matches, the second longest win streak of her career. She is now the sixth player since 2000 to achieve multiple streaks of 18 WTA-level wins after Serena Williams, Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Lindsay Davenport.<br /><br /><b>Match notes: </b>In a rematch of the 2022 Australian Open semifinal, Collins proved once again that her aggressive return game could unsettle Swiatek. On the same court two years ago, Collins hit Swiatek off the court to win 6-4, 6-1 to advance to her first major final. <br /><br />Though the 30-year-old has seen her ranking drop to No.62 since that run, Collins channeled her Top 10-level tennis to keep the result in the balance until the late stages of the match. <br /><br />Collins entered the match off a three-set victory over Angelique Kerber in the first round. Though she lost her last three meetings against Swiatek, which all came last season, Collins executed her game plan to perfection on Thursday. <br /><b><br />How the match was won: </b>With the match commencing under open air, Collins broke serve to lead 3-1 before a poor service game gave Swiatek the break right back. After the roof was closed due to rain at 3-3, the duo exchanged holds until Swiatek dug in to save game points and break Collins with physical play from the baseline. She held serve to seal the 78-minute rain-interrupted set.<br /><br />Swiatek continued her charge by breaking for a 1-0 lead in the second set. Collins responded with a surge. Behind her big returns flat strokes pulling Swiatek into the tramlines, Collins reeled off five consecutive games. She hit just three unforced errors during that stretch. Swiatek saved four set points to get one break back, and wiped out another to hold and close the gap to 5-3. <br /><br />Serving for the set for a second time, Collins got herself over the line and snuffed out Swiatek's thoughts of a comeback. Swiatek struggled to land her returns and Collins held serve at love to take the match into a third set. <br /><br />After the set break, Swiatek returned to the court with a black band below her left knee and Collins pounced. With Swiatek struggling to find the length on her forehand, Collins earned two break points at 1-1, 15-40 with a clean backhand return winner. She broke two points later with the exact same shot, a devastating return that put her in the lead. Collins raced to a 4-1 lead after breaking Swiatek for a second time in the set.<div><br /><b>Turning point:</b> With the match seemingly out of her grasp, Swiatek slowed things down and methodically began her march back. She broke at love after Collins double-faulted and then saved three break points to hold to 4-3. With Collins now leaking more baseline errors, Swiatek put herself back on serve with yet another break, before holding at love to lead 5-4. <br /><br />Having seen her lead evaporate in the blink of an eye, Collins fell behind at 15-40 as she served to stay in the match. The American did well to save two match points, but a perfectly feathered backhand up the line by Swiatek on her third match point finally sealed the victory after 3 hours and 14 minutes.<br /><br />"I wanted to fight until the end," Swiatek said. "I knew she played just perfectly but it would be hard for anybody to keep that level, so I wanted to be ready when more mistakes would come from the other side and I wanted to push then. I did that at the end and I'm really proud of myself. It wasn't easy."<br /><br /><b>Final stats: </b>Swiatek finished the match with 36 winners to 35 unforced errors, though just nine of those errors came in the final set. Collins struck 28 winners to 37 unforced errors, but broke the Pole's serve six times. <br /><br />Swiatek explains her Houdini act: "You're not going to lie to yourself obviously that you're losing 4-1. The only thing you can do is just try again. At that point, you kind of know that you may lose. You can actually relax a little bit more because you know that, Okay, probably I'm going to lose, so I don't care anymore. Then it's easier. Sometimes it works like that.<br /><br />"But it doesn't change the fact that I just kept trying. I kind of accept that I'm not going to only have these motivational and positive thoughts. When I go and start the rally, well, I hope most of the time I have the same kind of intensity.."<br /><b><br />Up next:</b> Swiatek will face the Czech Republic's Linda Noskova in the third round. The 19-year-old advanced to her first third-round at a Slam by defeating McCartney Kessler 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.<br /><p><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3860611/swiatek-comes-back-from-two-breaks-down-in-the-third-to-hold-off-collins">wtatennis.com</a></p><p><b>I'm not gonna lie with the scoreline of 2-4 40 love my finger was on my tv remote's power button and I considered turning the match off, I didn't want to see yet another loss to Danielle Collins at Australian Open (this time at the earliest stage in a Slam). </b></p><p><b>But tennis is sort of like a car wreck where you often can't look away until the last ball is struck so I kept watching. And boy am I ever glad I did!. </b></p><p><b>The way Iga turned this match around was something else (yes many would say that Danielle's level finally dropped) which allowed Iga back in, and maybe it did a little but Iga could have very well made some unforced errors giving the match to Collins. And she didn't at 2-4 40 she knuckled down and took it. </b></p><p><b>Something I've only seen from Iga once before at last year's Roland Garros. </b></p><p><b>To say my blood pressure was through the roof during this match would be an understatement. My heart was in my throat for the entirety of that final set (especially when Iga squandered 2 match points one with a bad overhead). </b></p><p><b>But somehow she found a way to survive. In her post match interview she said that her mind was already at the airport which basically allowed her to play more freely without care maybe that's what did it. </b></p><p><b>I like to think it's all the mental work she has been doing the last several years. Iga from 2 years ago would have lost this match.</b></p><p><b>Who knows maybe coming so close to defeat will help her relax a little and allow her to play even better. Although next she'll be playing a night match for the first time in the tournament so that means more adjustments. </b></p><p><b>I'm hoping the slower night conditions might actually be beneficial against another big hitter in Noskova. It only gets harder from here with possibly Svitolina in the 4th round and of course the possibility of Ostapenko in the quarters (I'm hoping Vika Azarenka might have other ideas though). </b></p><p><b>Her biggest threat Rybakina in the semis is out of course, so if she could somehow navigate the next few rounds we could finally reach new ground at this tournament. But for now we'll take it one match at a time. </b></p><p><b>Jadza Iga!.</b></p><p><b>And on a side note I just have to say as someone who has been watching this sport since I was a teenager and I can honestly say what I witnessed on Day 5 of this tournament was otherworldly. </b></p><p><b>There were close 5 setters everywhere you looked, players in jeopardy and a historic tiebreak that lasted 34 minutes with a score of 22-20. </b></p><p><b>It was basically a tennis fan's dream that will be hard to replicate no matter what happens in week 2.</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-54780348527189636922024-01-16T15:34:00.003-05:002024-01-16T15:37:21.822-05:00Iga Swiatek passes first test in Australian Open round 1<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0uc5eDG_zyEmFJ8nHaV27m8Wlgnt_8_hcsQuvlrDyEe36Gu-WJl8F2S5GZ7nC4M4z8sXmYRgJOAV2tMAuwtpPCJE-a0opNxOevhG5Wn83riJjlFdTb5NlDaN-RActpss46SPicH83MK61FOy7ou5SmIIx773IcUjiV-2LgHeSpF1AsRGKcra3g/s1152/iga.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="1152" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0uc5eDG_zyEmFJ8nHaV27m8Wlgnt_8_hcsQuvlrDyEe36Gu-WJl8F2S5GZ7nC4M4z8sXmYRgJOAV2tMAuwtpPCJE-a0opNxOevhG5Wn83riJjlFdTb5NlDaN-RActpss46SPicH83MK61FOy7ou5SmIIx773IcUjiV-2LgHeSpF1AsRGKcra3g/w400-h268/iga.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2oDsR2hOLxT732vMuVzGGyCWsHLBa80VprHZdxFRhzamBqC-DK5c_MLFeoKJAzbGlROv4QflhMb7F0nBYapGlA5Np568ecjTtoJIzUtItf0GLqbCwsdoGItYGLGw_jBoeEkDQJ8IsE0OMiF_fOjHwLDDcVbuUkVB0WsWSoS9pqlYVoxT_F5227A/s2048/419806770_935963777893860_6967252479467014487_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1409" data-original-width="2048" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2oDsR2hOLxT732vMuVzGGyCWsHLBa80VprHZdxFRhzamBqC-DK5c_MLFeoKJAzbGlROv4QflhMb7F0nBYapGlA5Np568ecjTtoJIzUtItf0GLqbCwsdoGItYGLGw_jBoeEkDQJ8IsE0OMiF_fOjHwLDDcVbuUkVB0WsWSoS9pqlYVoxT_F5227A/w400-h275/419806770_935963777893860_6967252479467014487_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7KHzZb2hQWuYiKJMeF_qVEbouQRP6T_T-UNs1z5Qk5aDd0oI9k6eluNfyDcivUfJ_Ru5_nhF8mbWQOmQrH6wkAoLLGw3JPt9wN8i-1RPyZxKYd-z854EbwntH2tuXy8A9iw8Ib4V8p5QlQVkQ-tFggceKr4wP38vhXbvMMIF_l3vtIpzp7zxWA/s2048/419869011_935963944560510_7542263230769775537_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1462" data-original-width="2048" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7KHzZb2hQWuYiKJMeF_qVEbouQRP6T_T-UNs1z5Qk5aDd0oI9k6eluNfyDcivUfJ_Ru5_nhF8mbWQOmQrH6wkAoLLGw3JPt9wN8i-1RPyZxKYd-z854EbwntH2tuXy8A9iw8Ib4V8p5QlQVkQ-tFggceKr4wP38vhXbvMMIF_l3vtIpzp7zxWA/w400-h285/419869011_935963944560510_7542263230769775537_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6eWQ4b3_7jlei_7eBNJRtJOToDpDaCBtf1WYKwEGb6_0-RtJWiOTo41M3_j8-N180gH2v8aQgWm3WaMd3r9J4ufa7IBd5smjRDGim0z7p4UbofzDirxRIctn_9ffcj5MpuIXSGypPWXCd4G3JQYLy46ej1EBstgbgpqfcVBzxdVdbQ0EAAvmYA/s2048/420015101_935963854560519_1554981195440798474_n%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1294" data-original-width="2048" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6eWQ4b3_7jlei_7eBNJRtJOToDpDaCBtf1WYKwEGb6_0-RtJWiOTo41M3_j8-N180gH2v8aQgWm3WaMd3r9J4ufa7IBd5smjRDGim0z7p4UbofzDirxRIctn_9ffcj5MpuIXSGypPWXCd4G3JQYLy46ej1EBstgbgpqfcVBzxdVdbQ0EAAvmYA/w400-h253/420015101_935963854560519_1554981195440798474_n%20(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />In a highly anticipated Australian Open first-round match between two Grand Slam champions Tuesday, World No.1 Iga Swiatek survived a stern challenge from Sofia Kenin inside Rod Laver Arena.<br /><br />In the pair's first match since they met in the Roland Garros final four years ago, World No.1 Swiatek came from a break down twice in the first set against the woman who won her only major title in Melbourne in 2020. The American, that season's WTA Player of the Year, led 3-1 and served for a one-set lead at 5-4. <br /><br />But Swiatek wrapped up the opener after more than an hour on court -- in a set in which she hit 21 winners to 12 -- and won the last five games in a 7-6(2), 6-2 victory that lasted 1 hour and 51 minutes.<br /><br />Swiatek has now won her past 17 matches dating back to a loss to Veronika Kudermetova in Tokyo on Sept. 28. It's the longest winning streak on the Hologic WTA Tour since Swiatek posted a 37-match win streak in 2022.<br /><br />Stat of the match: Swiatek snapped Kenin's four-match winning streak inside Rod Laver Arena. The American won her last three rounds in Melbourne's main stadium in her 2020 title run and her opening match the next year. <br /><br />Meeting the moment: After Swiatek edged the first set tiebreak, she saved all three break points she faced in the second set. The first came in her first service game, which stretched to four deuces, and she wiped away a 15-40 threat in the sixth game after she broke Kenin previously at 2-2. <br /><br />Swiatek speaks: "I felt a little bit off in terms of the timing. You could see I played a couple of frames," she said.<br /><br />"For sure, the temperature was higher than any match I played this season. I needed to adjust to that. The balls were a little bit flying out of control. That's normal in these conditions.<br /><br />"At the beginning, I knew I could do a little bit more in terms of the placement. I wanted to be more aggressive. But on the other hand I was backing down a little bit. I just wanted to go forward and be proactive and have initiative. For sure when I started second set, it was a little bit easier for me to do that."<br /><br />Up next: Up next for Swiatek is a match against another American, Danielle Collins, against whom she lost in the semifinals of the 2022 Australian Open. But Swiatek has won their other five meetings, including three last year.<br /><br />She lost just one game in two of them -- in Doha and Cincinnati -- but was pushed to three sets in Montreal.<br /><br />"For sure I can't say that I have easy draw here," Swiatek said. "I'll try to do my best. Danielle is a really good player. We played really tight matches. On the other hand our last match was pretty -- I mean, from the score, I had it under control. We'll see.<br /><br />"Every match is different. I'm not going to anticipate anything. I'm just going to be ready and we'll see."<p></p><p><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3859199/swiatek-edges-former-champion-kenin-at-australian-open">wtatennis.com</a></p><p><b>Ugh why couldn't Iga just play Angie Kerber in round 2. </b></p><p><b>I cannot stand Danielle Collins I find her very abrasive. </b></p><p><b>And her screaming after every point really gets on my nerves. </b></p><p><b>Hopefully Iga will handle it and we can move on to a slightly easier 3rd round. After which the draw only gets worse (poor Iga received the draw from hell this tournament). </b></p><p><b>I was really proud of the way Iga handled herself in this match. </b></p><p><b>Didn't get too frustrated, or panic being down a break twice in the first set. </b></p><p><b>And saved break points with some lovely clutch serving. </b></p><p><b>A nice stern test that will undoubtedly help her going forward. </b></p><p><b>On to the next one. <br /><br /></b></p><p><b>Jazda!</b></p>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-28828673370907518682024-01-08T00:00:00.001-05:002024-01-08T00:00:00.146-05:00Iga Swiatek named Poland's Sports person of the year 2nd year running <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEK6CC5LnFKJjB4Qv1TUNfsKkB82H3u8d8Zan50IUzH3DHpFLhcB4f7f0Lows7uQ2r88ZwDrpbuQ8k1aJ36TCTrx_qgWDZ-Ez1NfafLsPK9ZTNC9SxvanlfTB_WCIeUuaC_NF9xKQFijymIABUTinUuFgDKDkucGSoKYgVL5saKrUZk-0yC3rsAg/s1080/SportIga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEK6CC5LnFKJjB4Qv1TUNfsKkB82H3u8d8Zan50IUzH3DHpFLhcB4f7f0Lows7uQ2r88ZwDrpbuQ8k1aJ36TCTrx_qgWDZ-Ez1NfafLsPK9ZTNC9SxvanlfTB_WCIeUuaC_NF9xKQFijymIABUTinUuFgDKDkucGSoKYgVL5saKrUZk-0yC3rsAg/w400-h400/SportIga.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator"><br /></div><div>World No.1 Iga Swiatek was named Polish Sportsperson of the Year for the second consecutive year. The prestigious award has been presented since 1926 by Poland's oldest daily sports newspaper, Przeglad Sportowy.</div><div><br />In 2023, Swiatek followed up her remarkable 2022 campaign by successfully defending her Roland Garros title to rule in Paris for a third time and becoming the youngest active player to hold four Grand Slam titles. The 22-year-old also added five more Hologic WTA Tour titles to her collection, including her first WTA Finals win, Beijing, Stuttgart, Doha, and her home tournament in Warsaw.<br /><br />And in a season that saw her 75-week reign at No.1 end after the US Open, Swiatek proved her resilience once again to come storming back to win her last 11 matches of the year and reclaim the top spot. <br /><br />"My dad and my sister are probably still partying at the gala," Swiatek said. "I'm super proud of myself. It's the second year that I got to feel support from the fans and I really feel like they really appreciate my work and it's the best feeling ever.<br /><br />"Hubi also came in the Top 10 in this ranking so I feel like it's a good day for Polish tennis for sure."<br /><br />Last year, Swiatek became <a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3013577/swiatek-named-polish-sports-personality-of-the-year-first-tennis-player-to-win-since-1937">the first tennis player to win the prestigious award since 1937</a>. Jadwiga Jedrzejowska, Poland's best player before the advent of Open Era tennis in 1968, won the award in 1936 and 1937.<br /><br />Swiatek is currently representing Poland at the United Cup in Sydney. She has enjoyed an undefeated start to her 2024 campaign, going 5-0 in singles in the team competition. <br /><br />The Polish star breathlessly accepted the award while riding an exercise bike in the player gym.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3851010/swiatek-named-poland-s-sportsperson-of-the-year-for-second-straight-year">wtatennis.com<br /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-73958624802992455652024-01-07T15:52:00.003-05:002024-01-07T16:44:43.210-05:00Team Poland suffers heartbreak to Germany in United Cup final <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="1200" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3s70qEFMBoadeLxcX_Jkzt0AZf0vBkoFDWxP3aFCruo1UYGk0G-zaQnKL42B2nqdHAvaTpsiBerIuBkcGjxB36sIQiXEfK6M16jkAmpIBL2J6vVMleEISNM1Pph2jVxu5YvOe5S3Ate-0fYzZ1_aeFiIbaZWIfQ7efJSQNnV9gcLNaqy3ULIUEA/w400-h278/GDP2WyBbEAAGDBj.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b>Iga with her MVP trophy </b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvqsUHm4jYW7UjkRVU2X1Gr-zLWJ18DPx-1VqZUpOy55OU7wizzXW77D41D9uKQs-TQ4bui1BCVBh4ks0Uml68yJqqJy8yXrbALakhlNmOUXwQk4oFeFAZe62I6M0beTJktewngkDcpu5T3zhyphenhyphenxisQ7QZXkSNjbznlilW2alN7f1c9XOrT-rdlg/s1200/iga1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="895" data-original-width="1200" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvqsUHm4jYW7UjkRVU2X1Gr-zLWJ18DPx-1VqZUpOy55OU7wizzXW77D41D9uKQs-TQ4bui1BCVBh4ks0Uml68yJqqJy8yXrbALakhlNmOUXwQk4oFeFAZe62I6M0beTJktewngkDcpu5T3zhyphenhyphenxisQ7QZXkSNjbznlilW2alN7f1c9XOrT-rdlg/w400-h299/iga1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJ72CNYJ2SMvXhm0Eo4WBRFe6mVVU7Cy4q-YwqrmilBuuXQbBIGMWcMvkRVmeiqNfQA3r_s-rOASYqYzM7eDo0Lj6RK6Q3xozI_jWdyIFsP8ikWgfq_zN5KY8Wr6RBj1pR88pOq0SR5BpjXHGbItN6FMvbKc7GIj3zY4wdWo7bgLSzLMBhyphenhyphenMBkw/w400-h400/Iga%20smile.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPecOC7UwOEk3oM-esqnbsLKv_p63oK2VuEg8IjwKfqF4xQG2RqdOu8kh2YhMhVfJQHwTP7X4TuY9NxyDzm2sPkYPYpZF4HYR_H-8umQAwjau9pcjUndt-COq8S9PBHsPeMKG_c4BJLGwCt0CNUEjv5_001OneBn9TTNdALftL7FCy5_Db0uciwQ/s1200/IgaAngie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="1200" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPecOC7UwOEk3oM-esqnbsLKv_p63oK2VuEg8IjwKfqF4xQG2RqdOu8kh2YhMhVfJQHwTP7X4TuY9NxyDzm2sPkYPYpZF4HYR_H-8umQAwjau9pcjUndt-COq8S9PBHsPeMKG_c4BJLGwCt0CNUEjv5_001OneBn9TTNdALftL7FCy5_Db0uciwQ/w400-h261/IgaAngie.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiCKWov7bhyUjASWXrbZqB10DsZUTfW2_8v4ECwkLLmo_BB0lu6FiJRcdCAoUhHZWi6bm6AIdyK6EnnxX6aeb8RmcbgB1P52m4h7uOjOwoQjS5LhLsHQpamj6ZQV1Yb4sAg1dR1qvbZyUc0fzMCWEFlJu9oerTBau_mmgcBWglhhOeAJYM3WAkFg/s1200/Igacup.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="1200" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiCKWov7bhyUjASWXrbZqB10DsZUTfW2_8v4ECwkLLmo_BB0lu6FiJRcdCAoUhHZWi6bm6AIdyK6EnnxX6aeb8RmcbgB1P52m4h7uOjOwoQjS5LhLsHQpamj6ZQV1Yb4sAg1dR1qvbZyUc0fzMCWEFlJu9oerTBau_mmgcBWglhhOeAJYM3WAkFg/w400-h241/Igacup.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br />Germany completed a memorable comeback in the early hours of Monday morning to knock off Poland 2-1 for the United Cup trophy.<br /><br />After Alexander Zverev saved two championship points against Hubert Hurkacz, Zverev returned to Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney, Australia alongside Laura Siegemund to defeat Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 in a match that ended at 12:45 a.m. local time. <div><br />Earlier on Sunday, No.1-ranked Swiatek gave Poland the early lead with a 6-3, 6-0 win against Angelique Kerber before Zverev and Germany leveled the championship. <br /><br /><br />The match remained in the balance until Swiatek engineered the only break of the set. After saving three more break points on her own serve, Swiatek overpowered the Kerber serve to break to 5-3 and serve out the set. <br /><br />"I felt like she was really picking the right spots to play and she surprised me sometimes with her decision-making and choices," Swiatek said. "I knew she could play like that but I didn't have much time to get into the rhythm because she was really aiming sometimes these balls inside out."<br /><br />Swiatek would run off a streak of nine consecutive games to complete the 70-minute win.<br /><br />"I feel like I really improved during the preseason, and I'm happy that I played such solid matches here," Swiatek said. "It's really fun and it's really exciting to play with my teammates and for Poland. I'm really excited to win all my matches for Poland."<br /><br />Despite her country’s loss, Swiatek continued her dominant form from a year ago. Her victory against against Kerber extended her active win streak to 16 matches, a stretch that began last fall with runs through Beijing and Cancun to end the season.<p></p><p><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3850982/germany-overcomes-poland-to-win-united-cup-championship">wtatennis.com</a></p><p><b>Well that's not the result I wanted to see when I woke up this morning. They were so incredibly close. Hubi had 2 match points. </b></p><p><b>Honestly if it wasn't for Laura Siegemund's doubles experience Germany wouldn't even be in the final, they would have lost along the way to France or Australia.</b></p><p><b>This one hurts, but I'm so enormously proud, they fought like lions in that mixed doubles super tiebreak. And even though Hubi didn't win he left his heart out there. Fantastic fight and result nonetheless.</b></p><p><b>Hubi will just have to make it up to Iga by helping to win gold for Poland at the Olympics this summer :)</b></p><p><b>Iga really was the Most Valuable Player on the team and she rightfully deserves that lovely silver plate. </b></p><p><b>The emotions that poured out at the end were heart breaking to watch. It's always tough for me to see Iga cry, but at the same time I appreciate the show of emotion when something means a great deal to her.</b></p><p><b>And this meant a lot. </b></p><p><b>The next time I hear someone complaining that Iga doesn't play for her country at BJK Cup, or refers to her as unpatriotic I'm gonna point them to this final. </b></p><p><b>It may not have ended the way we hoped, but Iga is in fantastic form on a 16 match win streak going back to last year. </b></p><p><b>Her new service motion is working quite effectively and she's playing as confidently as she was right at the end of the season. </b></p><p><b>Plus by winning all her matches she gained 500 ranking points to continue to stay on top ahead of Sabalenka. So lot's of positives to take away.</b></p><p><b>I got way to invested in this tournament, all the late nights are making me feel a hang over usually reserved for the end of a Slam. This sport really has a way of messing with one's emotions. </b></p><p><b>With all that said I'm already looking forward to more the Australian Open in a week's time. </b></p><p><b>Jazda!</b></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-73291858557308636922024-01-05T14:49:00.001-05:002024-01-07T15:12:25.548-05:00Iga Swiatek & Hubi Hurkacz send Team Poland into the final at United Cup<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZNflpjSXmtulJoxx-uKcxgjKMVqGmRJLbXAOGKD6sTh5_Y_jpjGX_aYfRNUWesbqwcrbuHVZFtdrZJodwUHCFI9TODxKjQw5VFd76TDWCtA6fTIA0XtHoYe17V956u-ovvLrg_x7mbGD-3pdSXZRyyEhivzxNVHvmKUHndlEOOHSUIX-AvUwuA/s1200/GDIVhnSawAAj6oT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="1200" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZNflpjSXmtulJoxx-uKcxgjKMVqGmRJLbXAOGKD6sTh5_Y_jpjGX_aYfRNUWesbqwcrbuHVZFtdrZJodwUHCFI9TODxKjQw5VFd76TDWCtA6fTIA0XtHoYe17V956u-ovvLrg_x7mbGD-3pdSXZRyyEhivzxNVHvmKUHndlEOOHSUIX-AvUwuA/w400-h260/GDIVhnSawAAj6oT.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1200" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lIG0tRS6JC4L8wqIB77GqVw4dOA9wKJ7AplJXtMRA84MP_SDgPpc1vDzkJfOvSe_fEey7LenrOPWz8Wyg2NeSN4ka-sOTaL7s4kmm4cgRBioGGgJgtij7iJRk0jwePLm4uM97ZUu2Xx-zYve7cFjw5VeF8OnUd9uW-OLV8USHy_iH-TE7fPQ-w/w400-h269/GDKPkbxXQAAiz0N.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6X5448dPjMLl81VWuVPZ7ejXxANxbHetLvaDNHKpFF1NCeqUuB9MFZfn9eXmqHOnONxq2XdehzaoMEFlnmi6TE8T_ST0_FOUrqJqdxeJvr3mccQi6DQhxQXclaCjDgGZK59zNY3qs4olKIb2LFZatXFBFgZR4zLpPbiumwl9kbraUoVGcbApf7w/s1152/GDL4rUMXQAA63Zs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="1152" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6X5448dPjMLl81VWuVPZ7ejXxANxbHetLvaDNHKpFF1NCeqUuB9MFZfn9eXmqHOnONxq2XdehzaoMEFlnmi6TE8T_ST0_FOUrqJqdxeJvr3mccQi6DQhxQXclaCjDgGZK59zNY3qs4olKIb2LFZatXFBFgZR4zLpPbiumwl9kbraUoVGcbApf7w/w400-h265/GDL4rUMXQAA63Zs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><br /><br /><br /> Poland moved into their first United Cup final behind victories Sunday by Top 10 stars Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz at the mixed-teams event in Sydney.<br /><br />In the day’s second singles match, the World No.1 Swiatek battled from behind, notching a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over 20th-ranked Caroline Garcia of France to clinch her nation’s semifinal tie. <br /><br />"I’m happy that I came back and I didn’t make so many mistakes as in the first set," Swiatek said on court. "For sure, Caro was putting pressure as usual, so I’m happy that we’re through to the final.<br /> <br />“Sometimes it’s a bit hard to point [to] one thing that changed [after the first set]. I just feel like I needed to calm down a little bit and not rush it, and also observe the ball a little bit more, because I felt like I was sometimes off the timing. Maybe because we came from Perth, but for sure I needed some time to adjust, and I did that, so I’m happy.”<br /><br />Poland has now improved upon their result from last year’s inaugural United Cup, where it fell in the semifinal round to eventual champion United States. This year, Poland is seeded No.1 and has lived up to that designation by making the final, where the team will face the winner of Saturday night’s tie between Germany and the home team Australia.<br /><br />Swiatek led Garcia 3-1 in their head-to-head coming into Saturday’s matchup, but their rivalry has recently been complicated for the top-ranked women’s player. In their prior meeting at WTA 1000 Beijing in October, the former World No.4 Garcia was two points away from the upset before Swiatek prevailed 6-7(8), 7-6(5), 6-1.<br /><br />On Saturday, Garcia’s imposing aggression troubled Swiatek in the early stages. After saving three break points in her opening service game, the Frenchwoman’s overpowering return game led her to the only break of the set at 4-3. Swiatek saved a set point with an ace at 5-3, but she could not prevent Garcia from serving out the set in the following game.<br /><br />However, Swiatek grabbed the momentum with her own power game in the second set, where she never faced a break point. Swiatek raced out to a quick 5-0 lead before converting her third set point at 5-1.<br /><br />A commanding love break by Swiatek opened the deciding set, and after she saved two break points in a tricky hold for 2-0, the Pole was relatively unbothered on her way to victory. Swiatek won 70 percent of return points in the third set.<br /><br />In the tie's opening match, Hurkacz, ranked at a career-high No.9, defeated tricky lefty Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 7-5.<br /><br />“I think definitely today was a real battle. Adrian was playing really, really tricky shots and it’s really difficult to play against,” Hurkacz said. “So I was just battling for every single point and I think mentally I was able to stay in the present, stay positive before each point and I think I was also really resilient today.”<br /> <br />Hurkacz walked into Ken Rosewall Arena level at 2-2 in head-to-head with Mannarino. The two-time Nitto ATP Finals competitor (2021 and 2023) played well in the critical moments and defended his serve without problem to triumph after 1 hour and 41 minutes.<br /> <br />At 4-5 in the second set, Hurkacz maneuvered out of a difficult serving game with clutch play, including a point in which Mannarino hit two shots that bounced off the net and in. Hurkacz finished the point by hitting a winner around the netpost before encouraging the roars from the Sydney crowd.<br /> <br />In the next game, the seven-time ATP Tour titlist capitalized on his momentum by crushing a forehand winner down the line for the critical break. He then held to love and raised his arms in celebration.<br /><br />Poland completed its 3-0 victory when Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski claimed a 6-3, 6-3 mixed doubles win over Elixane Lechemia and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3850179/swiatek-battles-past-garcia-to-send-poland-into-united-cup-final">wtatennis.com</a></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-28938939788291985182024-01-03T20:03:00.001-05:002024-01-03T20:03:18.812-05:00Iga Swiatek, Hubert Hurkacz send Team Poland into semis 2nd year in a row at United Cup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uHNTxZd0MY3pznF3iQ6qIAzT9wM5ctaFp-ZeL-kdHenr__ifBttd-zxLX5M3PbCraO0_-k0LNOIkS22f6ep6HM5gj3bUYMX8D6Y-KnjKsLMsl7UBsv7218OfDhKL691sSAOksL6Ba77VxgsRLLRDKppW-k42ZGzGCbM3sSxajt68JQeti7sJJA/s1200/GC6EdfsbQAAxSaH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="1200" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwP8rZ0CrqSLxooD336uTcOLcJ_cCzOGQAmnDAkEFMcOvi1O0GmANsYQUgmFsIySlxHx7NRAxeju3ZkZRwf1GsBgwSC0t3sUrTnwbvj51FmVFp5mTDGe_JJv1OUqk6K51jnIYTPlQdpEPHVrM6pscp926cBYJBGUNXx4CFu0GY_CfB0JPMeOvTQ/w400-h264/GC5V6wtaUAAfqko.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><br />Poland and Australia have advanced to the United Cup semifinals in Sydney.<br /><br />World No.1 Iga Swiatek propelled Team Poland into the United Cup semifinals for the second straight year by defeating China’s Zheng Qinwen 6-2, 6-3 in Perth on Wednesday.<br /> <br />Following the win by her fellow Top 10 Polish player Hubert Hurkacz in the opening men’s singles match, four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek needed 1 hour and 34 minutes to beat Zheng and clinch the quarterfinal tie.<br /> <br />Poland, which lost to eventual champion United States in last year’s final four, will now travel from Perth to Sydney to compete in this weekend’s semifinals.<br /><br />"I’m really happy with my game, and also how the atmosphere in the team is," Swiatek said on court after her win. "I really feel like we can just be better when we’re together, so for sure playing [with Hurkacz] is an exciting thing to do, and I’m real happy with every match that I play here."<br /><br />Zheng, 21, ranked at a career-high No.14 and the 2023 WTA Most Improved Player, came into the match 0-4 against Swiatek but she had pushed her to a deciding set on three of those four occasions.<br /> <br />The top Chinese player went ahead by an early break on Wednesday and collect her first win over a reigning World No.1.<br /><br />But Swiatek regrouped, and from 2-0 down, she won the next six games to sweep through the first set. Swiatek went 3-for-3 on break points in the opener.<br /> <br />Zheng continued to battle in the second set, fighting back from 3-0 down and saving five break points in a gutsy hold for 3-3. <br /> <br />However, Swiatek reclaimed the break at 5-3 with a sturdy return game, then converted her second match point to seal a trip to the semifinals for her nation. Swiatek won 80 percent of points when returning the Zheng second serve.<br /><br />"I played up to my expectations in my singles," Swiatek said. "Qinwen put some pressure on me, especially at the beginning of the match, but I was able to go even a level higher. I'm happy with how I played."<br /><br /> In the first match of the tie, Hurkacz moved Poland to the brink of the semifinals when he defeated Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-4 and put his country 1-0 up.<br /> <br />Hurkacz swung freely throughout the 1-hour, 22-minute match in Perth, backing up thunderous first serves with big forehands to improve to 3-1 in the pair’s head-to-head record.<br /><br />“It is always a tough match against him," Hurkacz said. "He can play amazing shots and is such a tough competitor. I am really happy with that victory today.<br /> <br />“I believe I have more in my game but I was really happy with my performance today. Iga is insane. She is going to fight really hard for Poland now."<br /> <br />Hurkacz is now 2-1 on the new season, having also defeated Thiago Seyboth Wild in Perth. Last year the 26-year-old clinched the second ATP Masters 1000 title of his career in Shanghai.<br /><br />Katarzyna Piter and Jan Zielinski made it a perfect day for Poland, coming in to win the mixed doubles 6-3, 5-7, [10-7] over You Xiaodi and Sun Fajing.<br /><br />In the evening session, Australia stunned Serbia to book the home team's spot in its first United Cup semifinal. ATP No.12 Alex de Minaur led the way with an inspired upset over World No.1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4. De Minaur delivered a top-class all-around performance, during which he won 33 of 34 points behind first serves, to notch the biggest win of his career in 94 minutes.<br /><br />Ajla Tomljanovic followed de Minaur to seal the victory, defeating Serbia's Natalja Stevanovic 6-1, 6-1 to give Australia an insurmountable 2-0 lead.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3847883/swiatek-secures-united-cup-semifinal-spot-for-poland-australia-tops-serbia">wtatennis.com</a></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-36661942751613641962024-01-01T20:45:00.001-05:002024-01-01T20:45:21.029-05:00Iga Swiatek & Hubert Hurkacz take Team Poland into the quarter-finals at United Cup<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWReee1A01AIFTClR_r7D1IhvbsesTMRZvzWxa7DUyXNjZZ5owtfUc7vJTpY8A8nMgOI9hHT-63tfW92M3e1E6hDg2XsFpS0D3VGOlZIVv5QqqL-F6jPOhoSn2zms3kDkaCgSoOjzs55IsByPUxCqI0NI8j07HHzMQwQ87qE6JRsZmZlZ4dX_JJg/s1152/GCxH9xiXMAA9tFo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="1152" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWReee1A01AIFTClR_r7D1IhvbsesTMRZvzWxa7DUyXNjZZ5owtfUc7vJTpY8A8nMgOI9hHT-63tfW92M3e1E6hDg2XsFpS0D3VGOlZIVv5QqqL-F6jPOhoSn2zms3kDkaCgSoOjzs55IsByPUxCqI0NI8j07HHzMQwQ87qE6JRsZmZlZ4dX_JJg/w400-h258/GCxH9xiXMAA9tFo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEXXZDNmgZ2TZb827QqbVTeZ7exeViFU-LMMKTBx3wWXLeZpcJmsEXTLodAzxXenhj5nBxKQDNDbSbkgqMwtkD8hF_o8M3lSjzNBZ8zlu7spzUQGwkhVwkWeRtjtC8vpjPJkOWJmg7bDsDRW8tDllOoGxC9oqdFoQAJscpWoBEIotdiIXPMXTWw/s1200/GCxOfGybEAAcwKk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1200" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEXXZDNmgZ2TZb827QqbVTeZ7exeViFU-LMMKTBx3wWXLeZpcJmsEXTLodAzxXenhj5nBxKQDNDbSbkgqMwtkD8hF_o8M3lSjzNBZ8zlu7spzUQGwkhVwkWeRtjtC8vpjPJkOWJmg7bDsDRW8tDllOoGxC9oqdFoQAJscpWoBEIotdiIXPMXTWw/w400-h253/GCxOfGybEAAcwKk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><br />Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz sealed Poland’s place in the United Cup quarterfinals on Monday when they cruised past Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-0, 6-0 in Perth.<br /><br />In a winner-takes-all mixed doubles clash in Group A, Hurkacz and Swiatek ensured the top seed reached the last eight with a dominant display inside the RAC Arena. They won 78 percent (19/24) of their first-serve points, not facing a break point to triumph after just 43 minutes.<br /><br />Poland reached the semifinals at the 18-country mixed-teams event last season and is the first team to advance to the quarterfinals at this year’s event.<br /><br />"I was super proud because they really showed off today," said Polish captain Tomasz Wiktorowski. "Hubie had a tough opponent in the first match. Then he stepped up for mixed doubles. It was a great performance in mixed doubles.<br /><br />"I'm also super proud of Iga because we had a tough offseason just behind [us]. It's always nice when right after offseason, during the official matches, we see that what we've done is working at the moment."<br /><br />Spain started the day on top by winning the men's singles. Davidovich Fokina notched the first point for Spain with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 upset of Hurkacz.<br /><br />In a tight matchup inside the RAC Arena, Davidovich Fokina was impressive on second-serve points. He won 74 percent of points behind his second delivery and 55 percent on Hurkacz’s second serve, advancing after 2 hours and 3 minutes.<br /><br />Davidovich Fokina, who opened his season with a straight-sets win against Thiago Seyboth Wild, now leads Hurkacz 4-2 in their head-to-head. The 24-year-old Spaniard has also improved to 6-24 in his record against players inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings.<br /><br />But Poland's comeback began when World No.1 Swiatek grabbed a 6-2, 6-1 win over Sorribes Tormo.<br /><br />Four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek celebrated the new year with her 1-hour and 28-minute win over Sorribes Tormo, the top-ranked Spanish woman at World No.48. Swiatek improved her head-to-head with Sorribes Tormo to 3-0 (6-0 in sets).<br /><br />"This match was pretty physical, even though it was 6-2, 6-1," Swiatek told the press. "It was much tougher than it looked."<br /> <br />On Monday, Swiatek was forced to save four break points within her first three service games. But those proved to be the only break points the WTA’s top-ranked player faced in a match where she never lost serve.<br /><br />Swiatek’s power game clicked into place during a commanding love break for 4-2, punctuated by a return winner. Two games later, Swiatek collected the one-set lead with a backhand winner on her second set point.<br /><br />Swiatek saw four break points slip away at 1-0 in the second set, but she took charge for good shortly thereafter with an aggressive break for 3-1. Swiatek cruised home from there to capture her 13th straight match-win, with her two victories so far in Perth backing up consecutive titles at Beijing and the WTA Finals to close out the 2023 season.<br /><br />"I'm really happy with my level and the way I'm focused," Swiatek said. "I'm not feeling rusty. I'm not feeling like I need to get into a lot of rhythm. I'm playing freely, the same way I felt in Beijing, after US Open basically. I'm just happy to be in that place."<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3845725/swiatek-beats-sorribes-tormo-as-poland-moves-into-united-cup-quarterfinals">wtatennis.com</a></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-73185120262501044942023-12-31T00:00:00.030-05:002023-12-31T00:00:00.136-05:00Iga Swiatek & Hubi Hurkacz give Poland perfect start at United Cup in Perth<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSQH7g70nFfXQQhhZumvR-1sHJmfSpybiFaVW1qICx1Vrif1odeL1vPGY-0YZetOW6igzKmO9_olgatzIpkF-Js_Ggy-V8175p7xK8AMxGIfWWFeSmCbOrOmAzEbf2EitUTT3JIQI7cl1E8PqOm-I7r1izuboR99NPKJKLmhTV6kb9CA_6eS3iQ/s2963/iga4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2963" data-original-width="2963" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSQH7g70nFfXQQhhZumvR-1sHJmfSpybiFaVW1qICx1Vrif1odeL1vPGY-0YZetOW6igzKmO9_olgatzIpkF-Js_Ggy-V8175p7xK8AMxGIfWWFeSmCbOrOmAzEbf2EitUTT3JIQI7cl1E8PqOm-I7r1izuboR99NPKJKLmhTV6kb9CA_6eS3iQ/w400-h400/iga4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><b>PERTH, Australia</b> -- World No.1 Iga Swiatek enjoyed a victorious start to her 2024 season, defeating No.11 Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2, 6-2 at the United Cup. Swiatek's victory gave Poland an early 1-0 lead over Brazil in their opening tie in Group A. The victory extended Swiatek's active win streak to 12 consecutive matches.<br /><br />Hubert Hurkacz followed Swiatek with a comeback 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Thiago Seyboth Wild in two hours and 24 minutes. The victory gave Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead to clinch the tie. Swiatek and Hurkacz teamed up to give Poland a clean sweep, defeating Haddad Maia and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-3 in mixed doubles.<br /><br />Seeded No.1, Poland moves to 1-0 in Group A. Brazil drops to 0-2 and is eliminated, having dropped its opening tie to Spain.<br /><br />Saturday's match was not only a rematch of last year's French Open semifinal, but it also pit two extended winning streaks against each other. Swiatek and Haddad Maia finished their 2023 campaigns with unbeaten runs. Swiatek reeled off 11 consecutive wins to capture the China Open and WTA Finals to finish the year at No.1. Haddad Maia took the title at the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai and extended her streak to seven after defeating Sara Sorribes Tormo on Day 1 at the United Cup.<br /><br />In their third career meeting, Swiatek took control from the start and did not let up. Haddad Maia held serve to open the match before Swiatek ran off five consecutive games with her relentless baseline pressure and closed the set two games later.<br /><br />Haddad Maia amplified her aggression in the second set and was rewarded by her first three break points of the match. But Swiatek dismissed them all with pinpoint serving to open a 4-1 lead. The Brazilian finally broke serve with a perfectly timed backhand winner to close the gap at 4-2. Swiatek responded by winning eight of the next 10 points to seal the victory after 1 hour and 18 minutes.<br /><br />"I didn't hesitate," Swiatek said. "Even though it's a quicker surface than what I practiced on, I didn't slow my hand down. And also I was feeling pretty relaxed. I think the way we did this pre-season with more peace and more time actually for me to reset and sometimes even have a couple of days off between the training blocks, I think it just gave me a lot of peace.<br /><br />"I was really focused during this pre-season. I hope I'm going to be more relaxed on court because of that at the beginning of the season."<br /><br />Swiatek finished the match with 21 winners while holding Haddad Maia to just seven. She improved her record to 2-1 over the Brazilian. <br /><br />Poland will next face Spain in the final tie of Group A. Hurkacz, who won titles in Marseille and Shanghai in 2023, went 26-6 against players outside the Top 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last season. He will look to remain unbeaten in the new season when he meets Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Monday. Swiatek will take on Sara Sorribes Tormo.<p></p><p><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3842472/swiatek-wins-season-opener-to-help-poland-defeat-brazil-at-united-cup?fbclid=IwAR1ctwUfA8oCIsp5Ut5m03bRyF_-4qaDlSzWHjeij5eBBuKQTBDbUBMQinI">wtatennis.com</a></p>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23382913.post-11351796784606507732023-12-30T19:26:00.006-05:002023-12-30T19:26:57.471-05:00Iga Swiatek confident ahead of pressure-packed Olympic year<b>PERTH, Australia</b> -- Iga Swiatek has been here before. Last year, the 22-year-old kicked off her season at the United Cup with the No.1 ranking next to her name. Twelve months on, she is back at it again, this time leading Poland in Perth. <br /><br />Yet for Swiatek, this is no redux. As she prepares for her first match of the season on Dec. 30 against Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia, Swiatek is in the midst of an evolution, one she cemented by her perfect run at the WTA Finals in Cancun to edge Aryna Sabalenka for the year-end No.1 ranking.<br /><br />"Playing these final matches in Cancun with such baggage on my shoulders in terms of rankings, it gave me a lot of confidence," Swiatek told reporters at United Cup Media Day. "I learned a lot about myself. I'm going to take it in 2024.<br /><br />"Honestly, I'm looking ahead for these tournaments that are going to happen here in Australia for me. I want to take it step by step. I feel more prepared for sure to deal with the pressure of being World No.1 this year than last year."<br /><br />With more tools at her disposal, Swiatek feels well-equipped to take on yet another tricky season. While last year's degree of difficulty was boosted by the pressure to back up her historic 2022 season, this year's schedule will include the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be played this summer at Roland Garros. <br /><br />The importance of the Olympics can vary from player to player, but Swiatek has a special connection to the games. Her father, Tomasz, competed at the 1988 Olympics as a rower. <br /><br />Swiatek made her own Olympics debut in Tokyo in 2021. She lost in the second round to Paula Badosa.<br /><br />"For sure the pressure was huge," Swiatek said. "I mean, you could see after I lost against Paula, I cried, it was a big fuss.<br /><br />"This time is going to be a little bit different. I'm going to know the venue. It's going to be on my favorite surface. On the other hand, these also bring up more expectations from the outside.<br /><br />"I guess I'll have to do the same kind of work as I do on every other tournament. I'm not going to lie to myself that it's going to be easy or the same because it will be different a little bit."<br /><br />Behind Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz, Poland is the top seed at the United Cup. WTA Coach of the Year Tomasz Wiktorowski plans to use the week to build toward Olympic success. <br /><br />"Obviously we won't be able to practice mixed doubles too many times, so this is a very good chance for us to play for our country and at the same time, to practice for Olympic Games," Wiktorowski said.<br /><br />"We're always saying we're always right here right now for this tournament, but, yes, with Iga we are thinking about the Olympics. Maybe we'll have one more chance in Indian Wells -- there is a small exo where we can play mixed doubles. We have a chance for Olympic medal. We're going to practice here and try to deliver to the court the best quality we can."<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3840263/swiatek-confident-ahead-of-pressure-packed-olympic-year">wtatennis.com</a></div>Lurkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04415323756343281361noreply@blogger.com0