The photo that pretty much says it all in regards to this match
World No.1 Iga Swiatek had to pull off a grueling comeback win in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix semifinals to keep her incredible winning streak alive, as she overcame Liudmila Samsonova 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 to move into her fourth Hologic WTA Tour singles final of the season.
Swiatek is now up to 22 straight match-wins on tour after a walloping 3-hour and 3-minute victory over World No.31 Samsonova. Swiatek is the tour match-wins leader for 2022 overall, with her win-loss record this season up to 29-3.
After gritting out this hard-fought triumph, Swiatek's run will next be tested against No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday’s final. In a tussle between Top 5 players, 2021 Stuttgart runner-up Sabalenka defeated No.2 seed Paula Badosa in Saturday's earlier semifinal.
Iga ekes out another win: Swiatek nearly saw her tremendous run — which includes three consecutive WTA 1000 titles in Doha, Indian Wells, and Miami — come to an end against the blistering power play from Samsonova.
Samsonova did snap Swiatek’s 28-set winning streak with a tiebreak victory at the end of the 71-minute opening frame. The pair went toe-to-toe for the remainder of the clash, with Samsonova twice charging back from a break down in the third set, before Swiatek prevailed in the marathon.
Despite the loss, it was still another banner week for Samsonova in Germany. Samsonova won her first singles title in the German capital of Berlin last year as a 106th-ranked qualifier, and she earned her first career Top 10 win just two days ago with her upset of Karolina Pliskova.
Tale of the match: Swiatek saw a 4-1 lead in the opening set dissolve against her powerful opponent. Samsonova saved four break points for a crucial 4-4 hold, and she took charge in the tiebreak with stellar serving, quickly leading 5-2. Two more unreturned serves from 5-4 in the breaker saw Samsonova hand Swiatek her first lost set in over a month.
Top seed Swiatek was unable to shake Samsonova off for much of the second set, but at 4-4, a divine deep return gave the World No.1 the only break of that set. Swiatek served the set out at love, and the match was all square.
Swiatek had early control of the third set at 3-1, but Samsonova reeled off three games in a row to claim a 4-3 lead. In the end, though, it was Swiatek who again came through with a late break, forcing errors from Samsonova to move ahead 6-5. Swiatek swiftly served out the match, clinching the whisker-thin win.
World No.4 Sabalenka awaits in the final: Swiatek and Sabalenka have split their two previous meetings. Sabalenka prevailed in three sets at last year's Akron WTA Finals, but Swiatek avenged that loss in straight sets en route to her 2022 Doha title.
Did not need my blood pressure raised so early in the morning.
Thanks for that Iga :D.
Boy, what a battle this one turned into. I knew it would be but after a really good start in the first I thought it would be more routine.
Turned out to be nothing but!.
The last time she had a battle like this was Aussie Open quarter-finals against Kaia Kanepi all the way back in January. So safe to say it's been a while sine I've had to feel any kind of stress during her matches.
I had my doubts about Iga polling this one out to be honest. But she showed once again, how far she has come mentally and hang in there to prevail in the end. The Iga of last year probably would have lost this match.
But Iga of 2022 doesn't panic and finds solutions.
As true champions so often do.
It was still quite something to see. She may have lost the 28 consecutive sets streaks but keeps her consecutive matches streak alive at a whopping 22.
Just incredible.
This win makes it Iga's 4th final of the year, one she really had to fight for, something her opponent didn't have to do as much of.
Iga didn't play her best at times today, but she gets another chance. So I hope she can recover and give it her all tomorrow because something tells me it'll be another battle.
As in any competitive sport it's not how you start that counts but how you finish. Winning the first set will be crucial. Jazda Iga!. Go get that Porsche!.
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