Iga Swiatek falls in the 4th round of U.S. Open

This one hurts. 

5/1 up it looked like a routine set for Iga and it tuned into anything but. 

I'm still a bit speechless that Qinwen managed to do this twice. 

With Iga and Madison Keys the match prior. 

I guess the adage about qualifiers still rings true they can often be the most dangerous. 

Simply because they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Will Qinwen be able to keep this up? 

Who knows. 

I'm just sad that Iga is no longer in the tournament. 

I really do hope her thigh is ok and it's not anything serious as she so rarely takes medical timeouts.

I don't think it was a collapse as some people have said, it really was just Qinwen putting more shot in and Iga making errors. 

Not in panic mode where she's hitting shots a mile long, quite a few were forced errors I'd say. 

Iga didn't give up  though she kept trying to find solutions in the 2nd set. 

Qinwen was just steadier on serve in one key moment and all she needed was one break to finish it. 

I like that she was light hearted in post match about things always going this way for her at U.S. Open. 

As it's happened for her every year aside from 2022. 

And she's right the U.S. Open really is her worst Slam despite actually winning it once. 

I'm glad Iga didn't sound too discouraged in the presser and that she's still feeling positive about her game. 

Devastated about the loss sure, but she's steadfast in terms of not allowing this to deter her from everything she's been doing and all the positive results she's had of late. 

As she said it's just one match, it doesn't erase all the progress prior.

I think it bodes well for the Asian swing however that ends up. 

The Chinese fans really love her there. 

Sometimes it honestly feels like she's more appreciated there then she is in her home country. 

Which is sad for me to say as a fellow Pole.

I would love for her to qualify for the WTA  Finals purely for selfish reason's because I just want to see her play more before the season is through. 

And it'd just be weird to not see her there.

But if it doesn't happen, it won't be the end of the world. It'll give her more time to work on things before Australia. 

Maybe even give her more time to hire that second coach she's been looking for. 

So keep your head  up Iga, lot's of tennis still left to play. Your supporters will be with you though the good and the bad as always.

Jazda!.

Iga Swiatek fights past Bouzkova to make it to U.S. Open 4th round for the 6th straight year

Iga Swiatek won two tiebreaks in a single match for the first time in her career Saturday, outlasting No. 25 seed Marie Bouzkova

7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) in 2 hours and 27 minutes to reach the US Open fourth round for the sixth straight year.

"It got pretty physical," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "[There were] many long rallies, and sometimes I had to attack many times because Marie was defending really well and getting every ball back -- also using her opportunities when she had a chance. I just wanted to be solid and play one more ball in and not aim too much. It was really tricky."

Despite being pushed throughout and having to save three set points in the second set, Swiatek remains undefeated against Bouzkova at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level. She leads the head-to-head 4-0 and hasn't dropped a set. She has now won 13 of her last 14 matches overall, losing only to Jessica Pegula in the Cincinnati semifinals.

It was an unusual victory for Swiatek beyond the first-time scoreline. Her serve wavered -- she won just 60% of her first-serve points and was broken five times -- but the rest of her game held firm. She excelled at the net, winning 15 of 17 points, and finished with 35 winners, 15 more than Bouzkova. She also punished the Czech's second serve, winning 64% of those points to secure five breaks of her own.

The match itself was a break-fest. Swiatek was the first to hold for 3-2 in the opening set before Bouzkova answered for 3-all. After breaking for 6-5, Bouzkova served for the set, but broke again to force the tiebreak. Bouzkova double-faulted to hand Swiatek a mini-break at 2-0, and the Pole closed it out from there.

Bouzkova nearly forced a decider, leading 6-5 as Swiatek served to reach another tiebreak. The Czech held three set points, the last saved by a Swiatek volley winner. It proved her final opening, as Swiatek grabbed the mini-break on the first point of the breaker and never looked back.

"I tried not to think of these points as set points. I tried to play them as I would any other point. I didn't want to create too much pressure," Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. "Obviously if I'm focused well, I don't know what the score is. So that's the time in the match where I can just focus on my tasks, and then I can be more consistent no matter what the score is.

"It wasn't easy to do that today, but that's how I felt in the tiebreaks, as well."

Swiatek is now 7-2 in tiebreaks in her US Open career.

The win sets up a box-office fourth-round matchup with Zheng Qinwen, who saved a match point and rallied from 5-0 down to defeat No. 22 seed Madison Keys
 earlier Saturday. Swiatek has won seven of their eight meetings, losing only at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

And for what it's worth: Swiatek is undefeated against qualifiers and lucky losers at Grand Slams (15-0).

wtatennis.com

This was supposed to be a nice relaxing match for me to watch, instead it turned into quite a rollercoaster. Last person I expected to turn a match into such a physical one was Bouzkova. 

Though I suppose Iga is partly to blame as she didn't want to pull the trigger and instead was happy to extend rallies with Bouzkova all day long. 

The fact she was able to do that speaks volumes in terms of progress. Iga of earlier this year probably would have looked for shortcuts and got frustrated and overhit. 

But new Iga is patient as the day is long :D. 

If this was the beginning of this year this match would have been dragged to a 3 setter with Iga probably losing. 

I was actually quite impressed with her concentration throughout despite the many breaks of serve in the match. And how clutch she was in the tiebreakers. 

She had a clear plan and stuck with it. 

Maybe she wanted to feel the ball more knowing that tougher opposition is to come. Honestly can't remember last time Iga won so many points at net.

Zhang Qinwen next, the woman responsible for the heartbreak of Iga losing at the Olympics at her favourite venue of Roland Garros. 

I'm certain Iga's fans still have nightmares about it, that match changed a lot of things for Iga it made her doubt herself more. 

Granted it's been quite a few years since the 2 have faced off, both are in very different places career wise. 

Iga is a 6 time Grand Slam Champion and Zhang has been sidelined by injuries and had to play qualifying just to get into the draw. 

Which does make her even more dangerous. 

Because she's able to play with a lot more freedom feeling like she has nothing to lose. 

I think the match will come down to who has the better start, and who holds their nerve better in the key moments.

I have faith that Iga's new coach will help prepare her well.

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek into the 3rd round with another confident U.S. Open win

 

NEW YORK -- US Open fans had a rare opportunity to watch Iga Swiatek play in a more intimate setting on Thursday, and she rewarded them with a dominant performance that was never in doubt.

Playing each other for the first time since the French Open semifinals six years ago, the World No. 8 made quick work of Argentinian Nadia Podoroska, winning 6-3, 6-2 in the Grandstand in a little over an hour.

Swiatek was highly efficient on her serve, making 79 percent of her first serves and winning 78 percent of those points. She was never broken.

The only legitimate threat from Podoroska, who had defeated Simona Waltert in three sets in her opening match, came late in the first set. After holding to cut Swiatek's lead to 5-3 in the opener, she had three opportunities to break. Swiatek responded with two unreturned serves before bringing it to deuce. After two more deuces, Swiatek converted her second set point when Podoroska's forehand landed just wide.

The second set had no such drama, as Swiatek jumped out to a 5-1 lead and won the match with a gorgeous crosscourt backhand that Podoroska couldn't get to.

Despite the lopsided score, it was a clean match from Podoroska, who hit 11 winners to just 12 unforced errors. (Swiatek's ratio was only slightly better, with 14 winners to 13 unforced errors.) But Swiatek's superior serve, return game and net play kept her comfortably in front throughout.

Swiatek moves into the third round of the US Open, where she'll play 25th seed Marie Bouzkov. Bouzkova defeated Britain's Harriet Dart 6-2, 6-2 later on Thursday to advance.

Swiatek has won all three of her WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz meetings with Bouzkova, the most recent of which was a 6-2, 6-3 win at the Australian Open earlier this year. Bouzkova has never taken a set off Swiatek.

wtatennis.com

Another really good performance from Iga. 

2nd match in a row she didn't face a break point or lose serve. 1st time she played on Grandstand since 2021.

27 - Iga Swiatek has made the Round of 32 in the last 27 Grand Slam events (since the Australian Open 2020): in the Open Era, only Martina Navratilova (35 and 30) and Conchita Martinez (30) had longer such streaks in Women’s Singles Majors. Star.