Iga Swiatek suffers first defeat to younger opponent Andreeva in Dubai

Mirra Andreeva upset No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships quarterfinals, winning 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour and 36 minutes. The 17-year-old came from a break down in the second set to seal her fifth career Top 10 victory.


Andreeva, the No. 12 seed, is now the youngest player to record five Top 10 wins since Nicole Vaidisova defeated Elena Dementieva at the 2007 Australian Open. The result also marks her second win over a World No. 2, following her defeat of Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Roland Garros quarterfinals.


Andreeva advances to her second semifinal at WTA 1000 level or above following Roland Garros 2024, and fifth tour-level semifinal overall. She is the youngest player to reach the last four in Dubai since the tournament's inception in 2001. Andreeva will bid to reach her second WTA final (following her maiden title in Iasi last July) against No. 6 seed Elena Rybakina, who defeated wild card Sofia Kenin 6-2, 7-6(2). In their only previous meeting in the 2023 Beijing third round, Rybakina came from a set and 4-2 down to deny Andreeva 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.

The first eagerly-anticipated meeting between Swiatek and Andreeva was a three-set barnburner in last year's Cincinnati quarterfinals, which the five-time major champion edged 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. In the rematch, the youngster again took the first set -- but this time, she halted Swiatek's attempted resurgence in its tracks, reeling off the last five games in a row to avenge the Cincinnati loss. Andreeva is the first player under the age of 18 to defeat Swiatek at tour level.

"Last time we played was a close match and it was tough, it was intense," Andreeva said afterwards. "This time I just tried to tell myself to go for my shots, to be aggressive, to not hesitate. I think that helped me to win in a way."

Cool under pressure: Despite the scoreline, the match featured several high-intensity stretches in which momentum could have got away from Andreeva. Yet it was notable that each time, her concentration never wavered. Andreeva responded to every potential setback with a steely demeanor and cool-headed play.Swiatek came out of the blocks firing, and Andreeva's first service game was the first mini-barnburner of the match. It featured five clean backhand down the line winners between the pair, four of which came from Swiatek. There were four deuces, and Andreeva had to face down three break points. But it was the quality of her own backhand that saw her get over the line and on the board for 1-1.

Up 2-1 with the first break, Andreeva seemed to be coasting to a 3-1 lead courtesy of a pair of aces. But on game point, play was halted for several minutes due to a video review to establish whether she had touched the net chasing down a short return. She had, and a few points later faced a break-back point instead. But Andreeva faced this down as well, and held for 3-1 anyway with her third ace of the game.
Swiatek raised the pressure again at the start of the second set, hammering five clean return winners in Andreeva's first two service games of the set. She broke for 2-1, then saved two break-back points to extend her lead to 3-1. At this stage, the trajectory of the match was starting to look like a redux of their Cincinnati encounter. But Andreeva would not allow the repeat. Instead, she put together her cleanest, most dominant stretch of the match. Andreeva did not face game point as she reeled off the last five in a row, conceding only five points in this stretch (and just one on serve).

Afterwards, Andreeva said that she has been working with a psychologist on this.

"I have some new tips," she told press. "I have some new advices, in a way, how to work with my anger inside, what to do when I don't feel great, how to maintain my level when I feel great, how to keep being me.


"For example when it was 1-1, I was serving. When she broke me, she did three return winners. There was not much I could do about it. I just had to accept it. Been also working on acceptance when something doesn't go my way.

"I felt like it was out there on the court that I felt like still 1-3, but I feel strong. I feel like I'm still right there with her. Just thought that, OK, it's going to take some time but I'm going to go back and I'm going to try to come back and win the second set."

Aces, down-the-line winners key: Andreeva's backhand down the line is her signature shot, and was responsible for several of her best winners. But she also caught Swiatek off guard with her forehand down the line in several key moments, particularly after pulling the Pole forwards with short forehand slices: two such winners paved the way to a break for 2-1 in the first set, and another for 5-3 in the second. Andreeva also displayed a knack for upping the ante on return: she sealed the opening set with consecutive down-the-line return winners off each wing.

Andreeva's brilliant serving was also a crucial component of her win. She sent down 10 aces in total, including a nerveless pair as she served out the match. In total, she dropped just nine points behind her first serve. This is the third-highest number of aces Andreeva has served in a single tour-level match, following the 12 she fired against Swiatek at Cincinnati 2024 and the 11 she totalled against Katie Volynets in the first round of Doha last week.

Overall, Andreeva's ability to raise her level did not come at the expense of over-pressing -- in contrast to Swiatek. Andreeva tallied 18 winners but only 13 unforced errors, but Swiatek's 22 winners were outweighed by 33 unforced errors. Frequently, the former World No. 1's radar went awry in important moments: she was broken in the first set on a double fault, and twice in the second set on backhand mistakes. A final forehand wide sealed victory for Andreeva.

"I wasn't really sure where my ball is going to go," said Swiatek afterwards. "I wasn't as precise as I should be. Mirra is a good player. I already could see that before when we practiced and when we played in Cincinnati. It's not like I can win against her when I play worse."

Swiatek's dissatisfaction wasn't just with her loss to Andreeva, but her entire Middle East swing. Last week in Doha as three-time defending champion, she fell 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals to Jelena Ostapenko.

"For sure I'm not happy with the results," she said. "I feel like I under-performed. For sure I need to, like, talk with my team a bit and plan the next weeks a bit differently 'cause I haven't had much time to practice before these tournaments. I felt that my tennis was kind of... There were some things missing that should have been there. We'll talk about it."

wtatennis.com

Not much to say about this one 

I think Iga does a pretty good job of explaining things herself in that last paragraph. 

Usually I like to watch the match myself to properly analyze it, but seeing as the match was on at 5am I woke up knowing the result and chose not to rewatch this time. 

Images on social media showed me just how upset and unhappy Iga looked. And I wasn't in the mood to see Iga this erratic and mad at herself. 

I'll wait for Indian Wells and Miami. 

Hopefully a bit of rest will allow Iga to have a bit of a regroup and reset, maybe a bit of training to work on some things. 

Some days are better than others on the carousel that is the tennis tour. Today was one of Iga's bad ones.

But we stay positive, as long as Iga is healthy she will get more chances and comeback stronger.

Iga Swiatek back into the quarters in Dubai

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek survived a barrage of power hitting from Dayana Yastremska to advance to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships quarterfinals 7-5, 6-0 in 1 hour and 32 minutes.

Swiatek had lost her only previous meeting with Yastremska 7-6(2), 6-4 in 2019 Billie Jean King Cup action, and had suffered a heavy 6-3, 6-1 defeat in last week's Doha semifinals to Jelena Ostapenko. The Ukrainian, who has a similar all-out commitment to first-strike aggression as Ostapenko, did not hold back in the first set. Swiatek had to battle to close it out as Yastremska fought back from 5-3 down, saving the first two set points against her.

Five-time major champion Swiatek found herself in the rare position of being on the back foot in most of the rallies, mustering just two winners in the first set to Yastremska's 16. But unlike Ostapenko in Doha, Yastremska was unable to sustain her best hitting to gain any real momentum or take the lead at any point. Her cascade of unforced errors accounted for 47 of Swiatek's total of 67 points won.

"I knew I had many opportunities to break Dayana on her serve, so I just wanted to be consistent with my service games and I knew the chances are going to come," said Swiatek in her on-court interview. "We have many girls on tour right now who are heavy hitters and they risk it. If it's in, it's impossible to get it. If it's out, you grab these points and be grateful for them. It's not easy -- you have to have a lot of patience and acceptance."

Despite finding a series of thrilling winners to level at 5-5 in the opener, Yastremska's level dipped sharply after that. She won just one more point in the first set, losing it on a wild forehand miss, and then just eight points total in the second set. Swiatek was thus able to reel off the last eight straight games to set up a quarterfinal date with No. 12 seed Mirra Andreeva, who raced past Peyton Stearns 6-1, 6-1 in 1 hour and 13 minutes. The result put Andreeva into her fifth quarterfinal at WTA 1000 level or above.

Andreeva and Stearns were both playing their second match of Wednesday, after both won second-round matches postponed from Tuesday due to rain. Earlier, Andreeva held off former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-0, improving to 2-0 overall against the Czech, who required medical treatment on her wrist between sets.

Stearns notched a milestone win with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 upset of No. 7 seed Zheng Qinwen, her first Top 10 victory at her 11th attempt. The American had lost a trio of three-set heartbreakers in Australia last month to Top 20 opponents -- 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-5 to Daria Kasatkina in Brisbane, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 to Paula Badosa in Adelaide and 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5 to Emma Navarro at the Australian Open. Her defeat of Zheng levels her three-set record in 2025 at three wins to three losses. Zheng is now on a three-match losing streak, having notched just one victory this year so far over Anca Todoni in the Australian Open first round.

wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek stays near perfect in opening round matches

Delayed over four hours before starting her Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships campaign, Iga Swiatek wasted no time once on court. The No. 2 seed swept past Victoria Azarenka 6-0, 6-2 in a battle of former finalists to reach the last 16.

A long rain delay had paused Jasmine Paolini's match ahead of Swiatek on Center Court at match point to the defending champion against Eva Lys. In her on-court interview, the Pole said that she had warmed up "four or five" times initially, before settling down with a book, a nap and some Lego -- the last of which was interrupted by her match call.

Swiatek, the Dubai runner-up to Barbora Krejcikova in 2023, had suffered a heavy 6-3, 6-1 loss to Jelena Ostapenko last week in the Doha semifinals. But she bounced back to her usual position of doling them out with an immaculate performance against Azarenka, the 2010 runner-up to Venus Williams, sealing victory in just 1 hour and 13 minutes.

31-9: Swiatek tallied 31 winners to just nine unforced errors in the match, with her forehand down the line particularly breathtaking in its power and accuracy. Her opening set was near-perfect. She committed only three unforced errors, only faced one break point, and did not allow Azarenka to reach game point on her own serve.

2: Swiatek was relentless in attacking the Azarenka second serve, winning 13 out of 15 points behind it.

17: In total, Swiatek put together a 17-game winning streak against Azarenka. She had won the last nine in a row of their last meeting, a 6-4, 6-0 win in the 2024 Doha quarterfinals, and won the first eight here. A rare Swiatek double fault ended the streak in the third game of the second set, after which a pumped-up Azarenka was able to get a foothold in more of the higher-intensity exchanges. But after Swiatek had fended off three break points to reach 5-2, the five-time major champion broke Azarenka for the sixth time to close the match out. She now owns a 4-1 record against Azarenka.

51: Swiatek has gone 51 consecutive tournaments without losing her opening match, starting at Adelaide 2022. This ties the longest such run this century -- Kim Clijsters did not lose her opening match between Montreal 2002 and Hasselt 2005 inclusive, before her streak was snapped by Mary Pierce at the 2005 WTA Finals Los Angeles. Swiatek's last opening loss came to Maria Sakkari at the 2021 WTA Finals Guadalajara. (Her last opening loss at a knockout tournament was to Ons Jabeur at Cincinnati 2021.)

5: The match marks just the fifth time that Azarenka has won two games or fewer in a completed tour-level match. The first two occasions were in 2007, when she was 17 years old -- 6-1, 6-1 losses to Romina Oprandi in the Amelia Island first round and to Karin Knapp at the same stage of Roland Garros. Azarenka also lost 6-0, 6-2 to Ashleigh Barty in the 2021 Cincinnati third round and to Emma Raducanu in the 2022 Cincinnati second round.

0-1: Swiatek's next opponent will be former Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska, who ended Anastasia Potapova's six-match winning streak 6-2, 6-3. Swiatek has a 0-1 record against the Ukrainian, who won their only previous encounter 7-6(2), 6-4 in 2019 Billie Jean King Cup group stage action.

wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek's extraordinary Doha streak ends in the semis

 Every player in the history of this sport has always had one opponent who was their kryptonite. When Federer first started out it was Nalbandian than Djokovic. 

For Maria Sharapova it was Serena Williams (who she never beat). 

And for Iga Swiatek that person is Jelena Ostapenko. 

To be fair all the players I mentioned actually met a lot more often whereas Iga and Penko meet once every couple of years hard to get a handle or come up with an effective strategy on a player like this when you don't play them much.

Still with a 5-0 H2H now, it's safe to say Ostapenko is definitely in Iga's head for the moment (doesn't mean it'll stay like this forever). 

It quite often depends on which Ostapenko shows up. The one who can barely get a ball in court and makes error after error, or the one who cannot miss. 

For the moment Iga keeps meeting the latter. 

Of course it figures Ostapenko would find her form when she falls on Iga's side of the draw. Something about Iga's game suits her, and for Iga it's the polar opposite. 

I'm willing to bet though even if Ostapenko wins this title tomorrow we'll probably not see her win much else for the rest of the year. 

She has always been hot and cold in this regard. 

When she's on she's on, but when she goes off you won't see her do anything of note on court for months. It's Ostapenko in a nutshell really. 

Of  course with this loss social media is starting to spout their usual nonsense, she's got a new coach but nothing has changed, she's afraid of change, her game has been stagnant since last year, blah, blah blah. 

So beyond tired of it.

When just a month ago they were all singing Iga's praises regarding her serve forehand and so on. 

So many continue to forget Iga is a human being not a robot, she's going to lose matches it's the nature of any sport. 

Honestly when Ostapenko plays like this there are very few people who can stop her. Ons Jabeur who's the queen of variety barely got a few games this week having just beaten her last week in Abu Dhabi.

It's impossible to win with someone who's just redlining, hitting one-two punches (with every ball going in) and basically ending the rally before it even starts. 

Ostapenko will always be an anomaly, so I'm honestly not reading much into it. She just loves ruining all the fun. 

We move on to Dubai (and pray Ostapenko is far away from Iga or gets knocked out early).

Keep your head up Iga, the year is still going great. 

Iga Swiatek makes it 15 straight wins in Doha

 

Three-time defending Qatar TotalEnergies Open champion Iga Swiatek returned to the semifinals with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Elena Rybakina in Thursday's quarterfinals -- her 15th straight win at the tournament overall.

In a rematch of last year's championship match, Swiatek came from 4-2 down in the second set, and saved two break points at 4-4, before eventually wrapping up a straight-sets victory in 1 hour and 36 minutes.

After beating Rybakina at last month's United Cup, Swiatek has now leveled her all-time head-to-head against the Kazakh to 4-4, and she continues on her quest to be just the second WTA player since 2000 to win four straight titles at a single event.

But Swiatek will need to get a first win in five tries against Jelena Ostapenko, the 2016 Doha finalist, for another spot in the final match. Ostapenko defeated Ons Jabeur in Thursday's third quarterfinal, 6-2, 6-2, to book her own spot in the semifinals.

How the match was won: After a 36-minute first set, where Swiatek won the first three games and never faced a break point, Rybakina converted on her second chance in the second set's opening game to set a new tone for the match.

What followed was an hour-long set in which Rybakina bent, but never broke -- at least at first. She saved two break points in her first service game to lead 2-0, and three more the next time she stepped to the line to extend her advantage to 3-1.

But handed a sixth break point in the set at 4-3, 15-40, it was Swiatek's turn to come up with clutch play. As Rybakina charged the net off of a well-timed backhand, Swiatek whipped a forehand past her for the break back.

In the deciding game, Swiatek hammered a cross-court backhand return winner off of a short second serve to deny Rybakina a tiebreak, and the contest ended two points later when the No. 5 seed served up just her second double fault in the match overall.

"I'm super happy, super proud of myself. Playing against Elena is never easy," Swiatek said afterwards. "At the beginning of the second set, she increased her level, so I needed to do that too to come back.

I'm really happy, especially in the last game, to break Elena, because with her serve, it's tough."

Stat of the day: The win is Swiatek's 100th at WTA 1000 level in 121 matches played -- making her the second-fastest to the milestone after Serena Williams, who played 115 WTA 1000 matches to do it.

wtatennis.com


70 - Since the inception of the Tier format in 1990, Iga Swiatek (70.1%) is now one of only three players to hold a 70+% win rate vs WTA top 10 opponents, along with Steffi Graf (75%) and Serena Williams (70.9%). Company.

15 - Iga Swiatek has become the player with the longest winning streak at the Qatar Open since the tournament’s inception in 2001 (15 wins in a row). Home.

A near perfect 1st set and a come back from a break down in the 2nd against Rybakina a rival who frustrated Iga to no end in the past. 

Now she finally seems to have a handle on it. Shows excellent improvement and overall great mentality. Serve held up quite well today too.

Up next will be the bane in Iga's side (along with her fans) Jelena Ostapenko whom she hasn't played since U.S. Open 2023.

Doha is where Iga finally overcame the one sided H2H she used to have with Maria Sakkari (which she now leads). It's also where she got her first win over Rybakina. 

So if there was ever a place to finally break the Ostapenko curse of 0-4 it is here.

Jazda Iga go for it!. It's finally your time to show Penko exactly how for you've come.

Iga Swiatek keeps Doha four-peat hopes alive with gritty Noskova win

There may be no more intimidating sight in today’s tennis than Iga Swiatek on the other side of the net in Doha. But for more than two-and-a-half hours Wednesday, a fearless 20-year-old from the Czech Republic challenged the World No. 2 in every way possible.

In the end, Swiatek displayed those ethereal qualities that helped her capture five Grand Slam singles titles, the most of any currently active player under 40. Slowly, she reeled in No. 33 Linda Noskova and emerged with a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-4 victory in the Round of 16 at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open.

This was Swiatek’s 14th consecutive match win in Doha and it keeps alive her chances to score a rare four-peat. She has won 15 of 16 matches in Doha (.930), history’s best mark.

On Thursday, Swiatek will meet No. 5 Elena Rybakina, a 7-6 (1), 6-2 winner over Rebecca Sramkova, in what promises to be a rousing quarterfinal match.

The other Top 4 seeds will be absent from the final four after a string of upsets Tuesday that saw No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 7 Zheng Qinwen and No. 9 Paula Badosa fall out of the draw. On Wednesday, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini was upset by Jelena Ostapenko.

Thus, Swiatek and Rybakina are the two highest-seeded players left. Rybakina leads the entertaining series 4-3. It will be a rematch of last year's Doha final, which Swiatek won 7-6(8), 6-2 to seal her three-peat.

Although Swiatek is a four-time Roland Garros champion, Rybakina won both of their matches on clay, two years ago in Rome and last year in Stuttgart. Swiatek holds a 3-2 lead on hard courts, including the only match this year -- a 7-6 (5), 6-4 barnburner less than six weeks ago at the United Cup in Sydney.

“Tough opponent as always,” Rybakina said of Swiatek. “Going to focus on myself, and try to stay aggressive on the court. It’s definitely the toughest opponent so far on this tournament, so hopefully I can do well.”

That Noskova gave Swiatek a real ride was no random accident. For it was Noskova who drummed Swiatek out of the Australian Open last year with a three-set third-round win. Swiatek, though, has now won four of their five matches.

At 17, Mirra Andreeva is the youngest member of the PIF WTA Ranking’s Top 100. And while there are five 20-year-olds right behind her -- including World No. 3 Coco Gauff -- Noskova is the youngest of the bunch.

The first-set tiebreak was surprisingly one-sided. An unreturned serve gave Noskova a 2-1 lead when Swiatek wavered uncharacteristically. After her second errant forehand, she screamed “Iga!” twice in visible frustration. A few more errors, a few more big serves and Noskova had won seven of the extra session’s eight points.

Swiatek -- who had been pressured from the baseline -- gradually gathered herself in the second set. After three consecutive breaks of serve, Swiatek held for a 5-3 lead and eventually served it out.

Coming out fast in the third, Swiatek broke Noskova in the opening game but Noskova broke back to level it at 2-all. Serving at 3-4, down love-30, Swiatek won six consecutive points and delivered the emphatic break of Noskova to take a non-negotiable 5-4 lead.

Noskova finished with 16 aces, nine of them coming in the first set. But Swiatek was better in the big moments, saving six of eight break points and breaking Noskova's potent serve four times.

Noskova actually won more points, 101-98.

Although Swiatek said last year’s victory over Rybakina in the final was difficult, she called this one against Noskova her toughest win ever in Doha.

“Yeah, I think so,” she told reporters. “I would say Linda played amazing, and for sure she didn’t make it easy for me.”

But Rybakina, Swiatek said, is always a tough out.


“She likes playing here, she’s been in a final here last year, and last year also was tough. So I’ll be ready for some intense rallies, and some low balls, and good serving.”


wtatennis.com

Sometimes surviving tough test like this is all that matters and Iga give more than 100 percent today. 

More challenges ahead. But I think after today Iga is definitely ready to meet them. 

If you can survive an opponent who served 16 aces you're certainly well prepared for someone like Rybakina.

Jazda!.

Iga Swiatek starts Doha title defence with a win

The pointedly passive-aggressive question came up early in Iga Swiatek’s press conference at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open:

“By your high standards,” a reporter asked Sunday, “do you feel like you have a little bit more pressure on yourself when you’re looking for your first title in a little while?”

Swiatek, 23, but already far wiser than her numerical age, didn’t flinch.

“No,” she said. “I know how tennis works. It doesn’t always depend on you if you win titles or not. You just have to put 100 percent effort and commitment and you’ll get your chances if you play well and if you work hard.

“For sure, it will be nice to win some tournaments, but it’s never helpful to think about it before. You have to focus on every match specifically and do it step by step, so I’m going to try to do that again.”

With the emphasis on again.

Swiatek, we remind you, is the No. 2 player in the PIF WTA Rankings. It’s been all of eight months since Swiatek won her fourth title at Roland Garros in five years -- the fifth tournament win in a span of less than five months. That fabulous run began in Doha, where Swiatek became the first to win a WTA event for three consecutive years since Serena Williams owned Miami from 2013-15.

Swiatek is looking to become only the second woman this century to win the same tournament four consecutive times, after Caroline Wozniacki in New Haven, from 2008-2011. With all due respect to Connecticut’s Elm City, this is a prestigious WTA Tour 1000 event and would constitute a truly remarkable achievement.

The journey began Monday with a 6-3, 6-2 second-round win over Maria Sakkari. Swiatek, down a break at 3-2 in the first set, won eight straight games to turn it around. Swiatek converted five break points, three more than Sakkari.

Swiatek will play the winner between Linda Noskova and Yulia Putintseva.

After winning the first three matches against Swiatek, Sakkari has lost the past four. She hasn’t put together back-to-back WTA Tour match-wins since last summer’s Olympics.

Swiatek is a gaudy 14-1 in Doha, including 13 straight wins. That winning percentage of .933 isn’t far off her ethereal 35-2, .946 at Roland Garros. What is it about Doha that so suits her game at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex?

“Honestly,” Swiatek said, “hard to say. From what I remember it’s not like I’ve been playing flawlessly, so it’s not like these tournaments were perfect, but at some point always I found some solutions. I think the conditions here are pretty tricky, and I was patient enough to just keep focusing on my game.

“Every year it’s different, every year there is a different story, so it’s hard to compare and hard to find one thing that worked exactly.”

Her signature weapon, the furiously top-spinning forehand, is devastating on this outdoor hard court. It’s not quite as fast as the venues in Australia and it allows her a fraction more time to get set.

A quick review of her Doha dominance:

2022: Defeated Anett Kontaveit in the final, 6-2, 6-0, beating three Top 10 players in succession: No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 6 Sakkari, No. 7 Kontaveit.

2023: Defeated No. 4-ranked Jessica Pegula in the final, 6-3, 6-0, with a scalding total of five games dropped -- the fewest in a WTA event in a quarter-century.

2024: Defeated No. 4 Elena Rybakina in the final, 7-6(8), 6-2.

There were two walkovers along the way, but in those 12 matches, Swiatek lost a total of only 46 games, averaging 3.5 dropped games per match and winning 27 of 28 sets.

Keep in mind that this version of Swiatek is very much a work in progress. She’s been working with veteran coach Wim Fissette since the end of last year but do not, Swiatek said, expect “a sudden revolution in my game or in my preparation.”

Because she played the United Cup in Australia, Swiatek had time for only a two-week training block.

“I feel like he’s been through everything in tennis, probably, so for sure I want to use that experience,” Swiatek said. “I like how he works, and also it’s more like he’s showing me some different ways to do stuff, but also he’s really good at adjusting on how the process looks like before, because obviously it has been working.”

For the next week, she hopes to surf those positive Doha vibes. To all appearances, the pressure of the past is not part of the equation.

“I’m already kind of focusing on the next one,” Swiatek said, “not really coming back to what happened last years.”


wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek loses heartbreaking semi at Aussie Open

 Well it happened, for the first time in her young career Iga lost a match from a set and match point up. A score line of 7/5 1/6 6/7 (10/8)

And it hurts, I can only imagine how Iga must have felt in the moment absolutely devasted no doubt. So close to becoming the first ever Polish Australian Open finalist. 

We were one point away from the first ever Iga vs Aryna meeting in a Slam final *sigh*

This match give me flashbacks to Wimbledon 2019 when Roger Federer lost to Djokovic with 2 match points on his serve. Never a fun one to remember as a Federer fan.

As Iga herself said in post match, that's sport for you, sometimes it just doesn't go your way. Obviously I still think that sooner rather than later Iga will finally get there. Being 23 she certainly has time on her side. 

But even knowing that, it still feels like today was such a huge lost opportunity. The draw this year was probably the most favorable Iga received in years. Playing at night in the slower conditions barely losing games to get to the semis, seemed like the stars were aligned. And yet. 

It was quite a nervy match from both lots of breaks of serve, but Iga still managed to steal the first set.

Quite a few unforced errors as wel  l. I think the nerves really effected the serve too just wasn't there for her in key moments, like 7-5 in the 10 point super tiebreak. 

 She was ahead in the breaker at least 3 times all she needed was one good unreturned serve and it could have completely turned the outcome on it's head. With 7 double faults and zero aces however hard not to feel pressure when you can't rely on your serve for some free points. 

Granted the fact that she still got to a tiebreak with twice as many unforced errors as winners is commendable. It shows real progress, Iga of last year probably would have completely panicked, overhit and lost this in straight sets. 

But today she really fought to the very end. And it was truly one of those tiebreaks that could have gone either way.

I have to give Madison Keys her due I didn't expect her to hold up physically after winning Adelaide and having so many 3 setters here. Respect. 

Will  she have enough to stop Aryna Sabalanka from becoming the 3rd player in history to 3peet at Aussie Open?. Honestly I think at this point the only person left who can stop Sabalenka is Sabalenka herself.

It may not have been the result we all wanted today, but looking at the positives she made her first semi in Australia in 3 years. 

Playing at night under the roof (probably her least fave conditions) on a fast hardcourt with a big hitter all things that everyone kept saying were not favorable to her ever winning in Aus. 

Yet she still almost pulled off the win.

With a new coach she's only been working with a few months. I saw her come to the net more often in this match then I have in the past 3 years. 

If she keeps working on it, you never know might finally be able to do something big on the grass of Wimbledon.

Everything is still a work in progress, but she made huge strides and with Wim at her side I'm absolutely certain it'll only get better. 

The season has only just begun, plenty of chances to improve and strive for more. 

Hold your head up high Iga, you give it your all and fought your heart out. You did Poland proud as always. 

As the saying goes you learn more from losses then victories. This will only make you stronger.

To paraphrase the great Sir Andy Murray you're getting closer. Rest up champ. See you on the tour in February.

Onward to the next.

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek makes 2nd career semi final at Australian Open

 

MELBOURNE -- World No.2 Iga Swiatek needed 89 minutes to make her first Grand Slam semifinal outside Roland Garros since winning the 2022 US Open. On Wednesday, the five-time major champion eased past No.8 Emma Navarro 6-1, 6-2 in the Australian Open quarterfinals.

Swiatek, 23, is the youngest player to reach seven Grand Slam semifinals since Maria Sharapova reached her seventh at the 2006 US Open. She has lost just 14 games en route to the semifinals, the fewest since Sharapova in 2013 (9). Only Sharapova, Monica Seles in 1991 (12) and Stefanie Graf in 1989 (13) have dropped fewer games to make the Australian Open semifinals in the Open Era since the tournament moved to 128-player draws.

Swiatek made her first hard-court Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open in 2022, where she lost to Danielle Collins. She will face another American for a spot in the final when she takes on No.14 Madison Keys. A champion in Adelaide two weeks ago, Keys notched her tour-leading 12th win of the season by defeating Elina Svitolina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the earlier quarterfinal.

The singles semifinals will be played on Thursday evening at Melbourne Park. Swiatek and Keys will follow the first semifinal between World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka and No.12 Paula Badosa. If Sabalenka and Swiatek advance to Saturday's final, the blockbuster showdown will determine who leaves Melbourne Park as the Hologic WTA Tour World No.1.

In their first meeting since 16-year-olds at an ITF event in 2018, Swiatek broke first to lead 2-0 and took immediate control of the match. On a blustery day at Melbourne Park, Swiatek tapped into her aggressive clay-court style to push Navarro around the court, with deft and patient use of her topspin forehand. After pocketing the first set in 35 minutes, Swiatek was put under more consistent pressure in the early stages of the second set.

Navarro, playing in her third consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal, earned her first break point of the match with Swiatek serving at 2-2. Swiatek wiped out that sole chance and broke in the next game. In all, Navarro managed to take Swiatek to deuce in three service games in the second set, but the former No.1 stood tall to finish her day perfect from the service line. She has not been broken in her last four matches.

With an eye towards reclaiming the No.1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka, Swiatek is the only semifinalist who has yet to drop a set in the tournament. Since her 6-3, 6-4 win over Katerina Siniakova in the first round, Swiatek has not lost more than 2 games in a set.

wtatennis.com

For just the 2nd time in her young career Iga Swiatek is back in semi-finals of the Australian Open. I have waited 3 long years for this. And it feels so damn good to say. 

The way she took charge from the get go on return of Navarro's serves today took me back to 2022 and the way she kept doing that to all her opponents for 37 straight matches. 

Simply remarkable. Navarro definitely pushed her in the 2nd set I'd say more so than Siniakova in round 1. 

And the set was a lot closer than the score makes it seem.  Lot's of extended physical rallies.

The way she used her speed, and played aggressive but with margin, and patiently waited for the right time to strike was just a joy to see. I have no doubt a lot of this is Wim Fisette's influence. 

Madison Keys her next opponent is always such an unknown, someone who's capable of knocking anyone off the court but also someone who can really go off, lose focus and become an error machine during a match. 

I guess it depends on how her opponent handles the highs and lows and whether they can take advantage. The one win Keys has over Iga was in Cincinnati where she did knock her off the court in quite quick conditions. 

Don't think that'll be the case here however. 

There's a few factors at play like this being a Grand Slam semi (instead of a tournament) Madison's 2nd ever Grand Slam semi if I recall correctly as well. 

So the occasion and nerves will definitely play a huge part. I think if Iga serves well, keeps it close score wise and gets Madison moving she has more than a good chance. It won't be easy, but definitely not impossible. 

Especially given Iga hasn't actually lost a set and unlike the 2022 semi didn't play a 3 hour marathon prior to it. So energy and physically-wise she'll be more than ready. 

Also unlike Cincinnati and the blazing hot sun, here they'll be playing at night where conditions should be much slower due to it being colder. 

I am glad she got things done in straight sets considering she has to play back to back days (today and tomorrow) unlike Sabalenka and Badosa who had a day off. 

Words can't express how badly I want this win for her. After everything she has been through the last few months it'd just feel so damn good. 

And it would finally shut everyone up regarding Iga not being able to play on a fast hard court.

Jazda Iga!, Poland is behind you and believes in you. 

Go out there and play your best like you've been showing the past 2 weeks. 

In fact forget about everything and everyone else just play for you. 

WADA won't appeal Iga Swiatek's case with CAS

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirms that following a thorough review, it will not lodge an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the case of Polish tennis player, Iga Świątek, who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a prohibited substance, in August 2024.

On 28 November, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the independent body that delivers anti-doping programs on behalf of the International Tennis Federation, announced that Ms. Świątek had accepted a one-month period of ineligibility after the ITIA determined that her positive test for TMZ was caused by a contaminated melatonin product that is regulated as a medication in Poland and was sourced from a reputable pharmacy in that country.

WADA has conducted a full review of the case file related to the ITIA decision, which it received on 29 November. WADA’s scientific experts have confirmed that the specific contaminated melatonin scenario, as presented by the athlete and accepted by the ITIA, is plausible and that there would be no scientific grounds to challenge it at CAS.

Further, WADA sought advice from external legal counsel, who considered that the athlete’s contamination explanation was well evidenced, that the ITIA decision was compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code, and that there was no reasonable basis to appeal it to the CAS.

tennis.com

Thank goodness that's all over. Now she can truly just focus on playing the sport she's so damn good at.

Iga Swiatek back in the quaterfinals of Australian Open

 

No.2 seed Iga Swiatek swept into the Australian Open quarterfinals for the second time with a 6-0, 6-1 defeat of lucky loser Eva Lys in 59 minutes.

The five-time major champion has dropped just 11 games in four matches so far, seven of which were lost in the first round to Katerina Siniakova.

The Pole remains in contention to reclaim the World No.1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka next Monday. Sabalenka will need to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Tuesday's quarterfinal in order to stay ahead of Swiatek. If Swiatek also wins her quarterfinal, Sabalenka will need to reach the final. If the pair meet in the final, the winner will walk away with the World No.1 ranking.

Here are the key numbers from Swiatek's fourth-round rout:

8: This is the eighth time this century that a player has reached the Australian Open quarterfinals for the loss of 11 games or fewer. Swiatek matches the 2024 accomplishment of Sabalenka, who also dropped 11 games to make the last eight and went on to win the title.

The other six runs were by Maria Sharapova (5 games in 2013, lost in semifinals); Serena Williams (8 games in 2013, lost in quarterfinals); Martina Hingis (9 games in 2002, lost in final); Kim Clijsters (10 games in 2002 and 2003, lost in semifinals both years); and Victoria Azarenka (11 games in 2016, lost in quarterfinals).

2: Swiatek improves to 2-0 against Lys, whom she defeated in the 2022 Stuttgart second round -- Lys' first WTA main draw. Ahead of the rematch, Lys recalled that despite the 6-1, 6-1 scoreline, the "amazing rallies" they had played had boosted her confidence. Their second encounter played out in a similar way. Lys intermittently engaged Swiatek in superb exchanges, and even won a handful of them -- with a battle of backhand angles in the second set being the most memorable. Yet she won one fewer game, and lasted three fewer minutes, than in Stuttgart.

"For sure I'm happy that I played in an efficient way," said Swiatek. "I felt pretty confident. So from the beginning I just pushed. I knew that I could make an impact with that."

28: Swiatek once again delivered imperious form, striking 28 winners to Lys' seven -- including five clean return winners. She kept her unforced error tally to 18, compared to Lys' 15.

2: Lys held two break points in the entire match -- both in the very first game. A service winner from Swiatek fended off the first, and Lys sent a backhand long on the second. They would be Lys' only game points of the entire opening set. In total, Swiatek dropped just nine points on serve all match.

13: Lys' loss means that, for a second consecutive major, every player remaining in the last eight has ben to this stage of a Slam before. The last time there were no new Grand Slam quarterfinalists in back-to-back majors wa  s 13 years ago, at Roland Garros and Wimbledon 2012.

1-0: Swiatek leads the head-to-head against her quarterfinal opponent, No.8 seed Emma Navarro, 1-0. Their only previous encounter was back in 2018 in the first round of an ITF W80 event in Charleston on green clay, when both players were 17 years old. Swiatek, a qualifier ranked No.422, defeated No.1124-ranked wild card Navarro 6-0, 6-2, and went on to reach the semifinals (where she lost 6-1, 6-1 to Madison Brengle).

"For sure, I have to treat Emma as a player that I never played," said Swiatek. "We both made huge progress since that time that we faced each other. Her journey has been pretty nice and amazing. I saw the US Open matches. She played really well, fighting for every point and everything."

wtatennis.com

Finally another quarterfinal at Australian Open. It feels so good to say that. Been a long 3 years since she's made it this far.

Another flawless performance from Iga, barely lost any games in week 1. Still extraordinary. 

Sure maybe the opponents haven't been as tough. But still. The discipline it takes to keep that sort of focus is outstanding.

Her next opponent Navarro will definitely test her perhaps even more than Siniakova, but if Iga goes about her game and keeps a level head like she has been I think she'll definitely handle it. 

Navarro is quite fit but she has played 3 sets in all her matches so that's bound to catch up with her, and physicality is certainly something Iga can use to her advantage.

Jazda Iga!. 

Let's get those semis!.

10 - Iga Swiatek is the youngest player to achieve their 10th Women’s Singles QFs in Major events since Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Australian Open 2009. Accelerate.-Opta Ace stat

Iga Swiatek into the 2nd week at Aussie Open

In a third-round clash between Grand Slam champions, World No.2 Iga Swiatek of Poland stormed past Emma Raducanu of Great Britain 6-1, 6-0 on Saturday afternoon at the Australian Open.

"For sure I felt great," Swiatek said in press. "I felt like the ball is listening to me. So just pretty loosened up. At the end I felt like all the tactics and everything I wanted to do, I was able to. So I just kept going."

The two marquee names had won the US Open in back-to-back seasons (Raducanu as a qualifier in 2021, Swiatek as World No.1 in 2022), but today on Rod Laver Arena, Swiatek had the upper hand from start to finish as she collected victory in 70 minutes.

Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek is still in contention to reach her first Australian Open final. Her career-best result in Melbourne is a semifinal run in 2022, where she lost to Danielle Collins.

Gunning for the top spot: Moving forward into the Round of 16, Swiatek is still in the running to reclaim the World No.1 ranking she lost to Aryna Sabalenka at the end of last year.

If two-time defending champion Sabalenka does not make this fortnight's semifinals, Swiatek will return to World No.1 after the Australian Open. Otherwise, results from the final four will determine who exits Melbourne at the top of the PIF Rankings.

Confidence bests confidence: Raducanu came into the clash ranked World No.61, over 230 spots higher than she was at this time last year while she was recovering from wrist surgery.

Raducanu had also picked up her first two Top 10 wins during last summer's grass-court season, beating Jessica Pegula at Eastbourne and Maria Sakkari at Wimbledon. She was aiming for her first win over a current Top 4 player today.

Swiatek, though, was in a very familiar spot, playing in the third round of a Grand Slam for the 20th straight major. She is only the fourth player in the Open Era to make this round at 20 consecutive Grand Slam events, joining Martina Navratilova, Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

In the end, Raducanu's recent surge could not overcome Swiatek's self-belief at these stages. Swiatek is likely aware that she is currently the active player with the highest winning percentage at Grand Slams (86-18, 82.7 percent) and she was brimming with that confidence throughout.

Tactics pay off: Swiatek started the match trying to take the Raducanu forehand out of play. En route to 5-1, Swiatek hit only one serve to the Brit's forehand, and she aimed a majority of her groundstrokes at Raducanu's backhand side as well. Raducanu was unable to hit a backhand winner in the first set (Swiatek had three).

Swiatek was helped along in the first set by consistent and effective serving. She got two-thirds of her first serves into play and won 91 percent of them (11 for 12). She also went 5-for-6 behind her second serves, hitting only one double fault as she claimed the one-set lead.

There wasn't much to change in the second set as Swiatek kept Raducanu at bay. Raducanu made her last stand at 5-0, grabbing two break points in an attempt to avert the bagel, but Swiatek stayed steely to prevail. Swiatek now leads Raducanu 4-0 in their head-to-head.

"I just try to have the same kind of attitude and same kind of focus no matter what the score is," Swiatek said. "I'm just playing my game. If it's working, why stop?

"I've also seen many matches when someone was back [after] being down like 2-5 or something. You always have to just keep going. It's not over till it's over."

Lucky loser Lys awaits: Swiatek hasn't lost to a player ranked outside the Top 50 since 2023 Wimbledon, when she fell to former World No.3 Elina Svitolina, who was then on the comeback trail after maternity leave.

Swiatek will next face another player ranked outside the Top 50 in the Round of 16: lucky loser Eva Lys of Germany. In a match between two players contesting their first Grand Slam third-round match, Lys beat Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday.

World No.128 Lys has now become the first lucky loser to reach the Australian Open fourth round since the tournament moved here to Melbourne Park in 1988. She is the first lucky loser into any Grand Slam fourth round since Elina Avanesyan at 2023 Roland Garros.

Lys has now defeated Cristian in all four of their meetings -- and has come back from a set down in every single one of those occasions.

wtatennis.com

That is some score line. I honestly thought it'd be close given their last meeting in Stuttgart. 

Another really great day at the office for Iga. 

Seems to be flowing with confidence at the moment and actually really enjoying her tennis. It's good to see. 

Has a huge chance to make the quarters now.

Jazda!.

Iga Swiatek sets up 3rd round with Emma Raducanu at Aussie Open

MELBOURNE -- Iga Swiatek eased into the third round at the Australian Open after defeating Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2 in the second round.

Swiatek has now won her last 40 matches in the first two rounds at a Grand Slam. Her opening set over Sramkova is her 24th 6-0 set at a Grand Slam since the start of 2020. Aryna Sabalenka is the next best over that span with nine.


Three questions after another clinical march from the World No.2:

After coming through a physically grueling week at the United Cup, where she led Poland back to the finals with great wins over Karolina Muchova, Katie Boulter and Elena Rybakina, Swiatek has enjoyed a smooth ride so far at Melbourne Park.

She started her week with a 6-3, 6-4 win over doubles No.1 Katerina Siniakova. On Thursday, she needed just an hour to power past Sramkova. In relatively mild and breezy conditions, Swiatek struck 16 winners to 14 unforced errors and did not face a break point. She dominated off the ground, winning 20 of the 26 rallies that lasted five shots or more.

So far, Swiatek has been keeping an efficient stat sheet. She has hit more winners than unforced errors, 33 to 29, and she's winning 81 percent of her first-serve points. That latter stat puts her second among all remaining players, just behind Elena Rybakina and tied with Clara Tauson.

Swiatek will take on 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the third round. Raducanu came through a tough second-round draw against Amanda Anisimova, coming from a break down in both sets to seal a 6-3, 7-5 win and make the third round at Melbourne Park for the first time.

Anisimova will rue her chances in her first meeting against her friend. The American was two points from a 4-1 lead in the first set before losing five consecutive games. She burst out to a 3-0 lead in the second set but, again, could not protect her advantage.

Raducanu needed a medical timeout in the second set but hopes the discomfort she felt is the natural consequence of playing her first string of matches since the end of last season.

"I think it's almost to be expected when you haven't played a match in so long," Raducanu said, "and then to have two really physical ones, yeah, I think small niggles are going to come up here and there. I'm just hoping that it is that. I was able to push past some pain today, but yeah, I'm going to just try and recover as best as possible over the next day."

Swiatek is undefeated against No.61 Raducanu, winning all three meetings without losing a set. Their last clash came on the clay at Stuttgart last year. Swiatek won 7-6(2), 6-3 in the quarterfinals.


With her win over No.49 Sramkova, Swiatek has now won her last 16 matches against opponents ranked outside the Top 20. While the numbers are stacked in Swiatek's favor, the third round was her bugbear last year. She fell in the third round at two of the four Grand Slams, including at Melbourne Park, where she bowed out to big-hitting Linda Noskova. She also lost in the third round at Wimbledon to Yulia Putintseva.

Swiatek and Raducanu are junior contemporaries who won their first Grand Slams as teenagers. While Swiatek's ascension continued, injuries have hampered Raducanu's follow-up seasons.

"Everybody's story is different, and everybody struggles with different stuff, but it doesn't matter," Swiatek said. "When we're going to be out there on the court, whoever is going to play better will win, and that's it. I'll just focus on tennis.

"For sure we have different stories, but before the match, I'm not going to really think about that. I'll just prepare based on how she plays now and that's it."

Raducanu agreed. The 22-year-old has never been tempted to compare her last few years to Swiatek's.


"Of course I've seen her win a lot, but I also know that we've had very different paths," Raducanu said. "I know that she was playing since a very young age, and my hours in comparison were probably a bit comical when I was 17, 18 playing six hours a week (laughing). I don't think it was the same trajectory."

Swiatek has not lost a set en route to the third round and her progress has a significant impact on her quest to retake the PIF WTA Rankings No.1 from Aryna Sabalenka after Melbourne.

Going into the first Grand Slam of the season, three players had a chance to leave Melbourne Park with the top spot: Sabalenka, Swiatek, and No.3 Coco Gauff. By making the third round, Swiatek has ended Gauff's chances at No.1 and changed the calculation for Sabalenka, who now must make the semifinal for a chance to hold on to the top spot. That line will continue to move if Swiatek continues her progress through the tournament.

"There was a lot of pressure starting the year as No.1, but I think overall last year I didn't think about it this much anyway," Swiatek said. "Also, I realized last year that I don't have 100 percent influence on what happens with my ranking sometimes. So now I just focus on tennis. If I play well, I know I'll be back at No.1. If I don't and Aryna plays better, she'll be No.1.

"I think it's just smarter to focus on tennis, and the ranking will come after that."

wtatennis.com

Really good match from Iga. Seemed even more self assured then in her first match and changing courts as well from John Cain to Rod Laver. 

Granted this opponent wasn't able to make Iga feel any pressure the way Raducanu might. But if Iga serves well and if need be makes it physical she'll definitely have the upper hand. 

But I am expecting it to be close score-wise. 

Jazda Iga, you've got this! let's go for the 2nd week.
 

Iga Swiatek starts Australian Open with a solid opener

 

The courts at Melbourne Park are not always the easiest for Iga Swiatek to navigate.

But when she steps onto them for first-round matches at the Australian Open, she’s tough to stop.

The world No.2 improved to a flawless 7-0 in AO first-round matches, and 23-1 overall at this stage of a Grand Slam tournament, by seeing off the challenge of Katerina Siniakova.

The talented Czech is ranked 50th and is currently the world No.1 doubles player, but Swiatek has spent a cumulative 125 weeks atop the singles rankings, and it showed at John Cain Arena on Monday.

Her 6-3 6-4 win, achieved in a tidy one hour, 21 minutes, saw her finish with more winners than unforced errors, almost 80 per cent of first-serve points won, and not a single double fault.

It was almost as clean as it could get for a tournament opener, a win setting up a second-round clash with Slovak Rebecca Sramkova.

The Pole was told by a reporter that she was the only woman this decade to reach the second round at every Slam she had played.

“Yeah, I know,” she replied, then added with a smile: “I think I only lost once in the first round. It was at Wimbledon in 2019. I wish I didn't play so my stat would be perfect.”

It’s pretty close to perfect – she has now won 21 first-round Grand Slam matches in a row.

“I'm happy. It shows that I'm consistent,” she continued. “I'm just more confident before a Slam, even playing the first match. I know that no matter what's going to happen, I have kind of this stat.

“I should just do what I always do, and it will be good.”

It’s been extremely good for Swiatek at Roland Garros, where she is a four-time champion and boasts an outstanding 35-2 record in Paris.

In Australia, wins have been harder to come by, with the Pole failing to reach the quarterfinals in her past two visits after a semifinal finish in 2022 – her best result Down Under.

It could be a different story at AO 2025 for Swiatek, who arrives in Melbourne with new coach Wim Fissette as well as a dedicated hitting partner in her team, something she did not have here 12 months ago.

Signs have been encouraging so far, with Swiatek winning five of her six matches on Australian hard courts this season. The only loss came in the United Cup final to Coco Gauff who, along with world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, sits in the opposite half of the draw to Swiatek.

Sabalenka and Gauff are considered by most to be the title favourites, while Swiatek has slipped somewhat under the radar in such discussions. Coincidentally, this was reflected in the order of play, with Sabalenka and Gauff beginning their AO 2025 campaigns at Rod Laver Arena while Swiatek, for the first time in three years, competed at John Cain Arena.

This was by no means an example of Swiatek being slighted. Monday’s order of play was one of the densest in AO first-round history, with superstars Swiatek, Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic all in action on Day 2.

Observed Australian champion Sam Stosur on the eve of the tournament: “There's a lot of decisions ahead for schedulers – what court are we gonna put all these guys on and when do we find the spaces?”

Swiatek didn’t mind returning to JCA for the first time since her second-round win over Rebecca Peterson at Australian Open 2022.

In fact, the court assignment brought back great memories.

“Honestly, I love playing here on every stadium. On John Cain I played some amazing matches,” she said.

“I remember with [Anett] Kontaveit, we played fourth round. That was my first chance to go on to the quarters on hard courts. Also some nice tournaments, nice matches.

“I like this court."

ausopen.com

Not a bad start for Iga. Showed some solid hitting. Sramkova could be tricky but if Iga stays focused I see her taking it in 2. 

I think Iga will only get better as the matches goes on. 

Maybe they should put her on John Cain more often flying under the radar could be good and help her relax with all the attention on center.

Iga Swiatek dismisses fitness concerns after physical United Cup effort

SYDNEY -- Iga Swiatek downplayed any concerns about her fitness ahead of the Australian Open.

The World No.2 endured a heavy workload as she helped steer Poland into its second straight United Cup final. Along the way, she notched four wins, which included high-intensity, physical victories over US Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova, Great Britain's Katie Boulter and World No.6 Elena Rybakina.

In the final, Swiatek lost 6-4, 6-4 to No.3 Coco Gauff in another grueling all-court battle. Team USA swept the tie, defeating Poland 2-0 to win its second United Cup title.

"I'm for sure happy, because I played some heavy hitters as well this week and also some girls that played tough," Swiatek said after the match. "I was able to play against both really great tennis.

"For sure today I wasn't able to give 100 percent. Coco also played amazing, and she's for sure improving. But overall I'm really happy with the week. I feel like things I worked on really improved."

Swiatek's efforts required two rare medical timeouts for upper leg issues. The first came in her near-three-hour duel with Katie Boulter in the Sydney quarterfinals. The second came before she served to stay in the match against Gauff.

"The volume at the beginning of the tournament especially has been pretty big," Swiatek said, "but honestly, it's all good."

Setting the disappointment of the result aside, Swiatek reveled in the team environment provided by the United Cup. This year, Poland's squad included her childhood friend, No.128 Maja Chwalinska, who contributed points for Poland in mixed doubles and will play in the qualifying tournament at the Australian Open.

Chwalinska was able to help Swiatek cut through the tension of her pressure-packed matches, playfully holding ice bags on her head and cracking jokes from the bench.

"Today it wasn't my day, for sure," Swiatek said. "I needed the energy and I needed also to get some distance from everything that was happening. For sure, Maja was able to give me that. It was pretty funny. There's a reason why we won all these junior tournaments and Junior Fed Cup [together] and everything. She's pretending that she's not my friend but she is.

"So for sure, not only from Maja, but the whole team, I think the support has been amazing. We respect each other so much that we really have been here together no matter who was playing."

Now Swiatek's attention will turn to Melbourne. She made her first hard-court Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open in 2022 but has not progressed past the Round of 16 since. Last year, after going 5-0 at the United Cup, she suffered an early exit to Linda Noskova in the third round.

"This week and Australian Open is a different story," Swiatek said. "So still I'm gonna do everything step by step and continue the work that I have been doing."

wtatennis.com

 Good to have Iga herself put those concerns to rest.

It's heartbreak for Team Poland once more as USA takes the title at United Cup

Always good to see Iga smiling in the post presser despite the emotional heartbreak

It's heartbreak again for Team Poland. Every year they give it their all and keep falling short. It's a little depressing at this point. 

All in all I don't think this was Iga's best match of the week. Serve was lacking and there were quite a few unforced errors( brought on by Coco's athleticism and having to retrieve a lot of extra balls). 

But it's not like Iga didn't have her chances to turn it around (had breaks in both sets). It just wasn't her day.

Perhaps winning with Rybakina the other day took a mental toll, not to mention the physical toll of the last few days has been pretty intense too.  

All that combined caused Iga to regress into the panic mode habit of overhitting the ball (which she really wasn't doing all tournament). 

Maybe the frustration of expecting Coco to play a certain way and not getting that was a bit of a catalyst to Iga not being able to find solutions as well. 

Iga will have to look at this rivalry from a different angle now (Coco has definitely matured and changed and improved her game (it's giving her all the belief and confidence) so Iga will have to adjust her tactics accordingly. 

That's where working with new coach Wim Fissette will come into play. 

The win over Rybakina was without a doubt the most valuable out of this whole tournament. It give her the belief that she can win with big hitters on a fast hard court.

Hopefully she'll be able to call on that bielief at Aussie Open in a weeks time. 

Having said all that I do have to wonder whether participating in this event is truly worth it in the grand scheme of things. 

Iga gets so emotionally invested and puts so much pressure on herself trying to win for her country. 

It's energy that maybe could be put to better use at an individual tournament like Brisbane or Adelaide. 

Sabalenka won Brisbane without having to face any tough opponents. I guess the question becomes is it better preparation to face a few tough opponents and not win vs having an easier draw and actually winning a title before a Grand Slam. I suppose that remains to be seen.    

I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm a little concerned about Iga physically. Having pain in both legs before a Grand Slam is not great. 

Hopefully it's all related to exertion over the past week and nothing more serious (as Iga herself mentioned in the post match interviews). 

Still I'll feel a whole lot better once Maciek Ryszczuk her physio arrives in Australia (he just always knows how to keep Iga in top condition and pain free). 

Regarding the opponents I have to add that unlike their 2021 meeting at the United Cup, this year I found the entire team USA interaction with Poland very disingenuous to put it politely. 

I think Danielle Collins sort of set that tone when she rolled her eyes as she barely shook Iga's hand as the teams were wishing each other good luck. The woman is truly insufferable. 

And if I'm honest even Coco at the end seemed to be shaking team Poland's hand out of politeness more than anything else (didn't stop for more than a second to shake the hand of each team member). It just looked so obligatory and fake.  

I'm not trying to disrespect or take away from her win in anyway she absolutely deserves it. Was the better athlete and player on the day no denying that. 

Just wasn't a fan of the American Team vibes I guess. 

I think maybe Iga felt those vibes too which is why she didn't give Coco a warm handshake at the end of their match either. I suppose emotions were running high on both sides.

Now that Coco has won back to back matches with Iga the American ESPN pundits are going to be insufferable as well. It's going to be a lot of Coco is the best, she's the contender for the Australian Open, she's one of the best athlete right now and so on. 

I get really tired of this narrative (makes me grateful to have other broadcast options).

I realize this next statement will sound completely biased, but I honestly prefer the European media's understated praising of their athletes. Sure we tend to criticize them more, but we also don't go overboard with boasting.

Still immensely proud of Team Poland despite the loss. Hopefully Iga can get a bit of R&R now to rest and rehab those legs before getting back into the grind in a week's time.

Bring on the Aussie Open!