Iga Swiatek wins 25th career title in Korea Open thriller

The phrase “numbers don’t lie” is a common misconception – especially in tennis.

Take Sunday’s Korea Open final for example, where Iga Swiatek
 was outperformed by Ekaterina Alexandrova in nearly every single statistical category, including total points won.

Yet it was Swiatek who prevailed in Seoul, rallying to defeat Alexandrova 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in 2 hours and 41 minutes. The victory marked her third title of the season and the 25th of her career.

She is now 25-5 all-time in WTA finals.

“First of all, I want to congratulate Ekaterina for an amazing week and an amazing final,” Swiatek said during the trophy presentation. “Honestly, I don’t know how I won it because you were playing great and I just tried to stay alive.

“Hopefully we’re going to play more finals because it’s always tough against you, but it’s also entertaining.”

That “tried to stay alive” mentality ultimately gave Swiatek the edge in a match defined by razor-thin margins – aside from the lopsided opening set.

Alexandrova, the clear underdog, came out swinging and needed just 30 minutes to take the first set in convincing fashion, breaking Swiatek in the opening game and never looking back.

Swiatek flipped the script to start the second set, breaking Alexandrova immediately. But the momentum shifted again as Alexandrova broke back in the next game. The two then traded holds until it came time for a tiebreak, where Swiatek finally looked to be the one in control for the first time in the match.

She jumped out to a 3-0 lead, extended it to 5-2 and closed out the tiebreak 7-3 to force a decider.

Early in the third, Swiatek handed Alexandrova a break with three double faults in one game, falling behind 2-1. But she recovered, leveling the set at 3-all and taking the lead for just the second time in the match in the next game.

From there, scoreboard pressure worked in Swiatek’s favor. As Alexandrova served to stay in the match, Swiatek turned up the heat – blasting a cross-court forehand winner on her second match point to put away her opponent and seal the comeback.

Despite the loss, Alexandrova led nearly every key stat: she had more aces (6 to 2), fewer double faults (6 to 9), a higher first-serve percentage (595 to 535), a higher percentage of first serves won (66% to 58%), more winners (30 to 23), fewer unforced errors (25 to 40), more break points created (8 vs. 7) and a better conversion rate (63% to 43%), and most notably, more total points won (108 to 97).

But Swiatek was simply more clutch.

In the moments that mattered most – serving down 5-4 in the second set while Alexandrova was two points from victory, during the tiebreak, or when she trailed by a break in the third set – Swiatek showed exactly why she once held the world No. 1 ranking, and why she may reclaim it in the not-so-distant future.

For now, Swiatek remains No. 2 in both the PIF WTA Rankings as well as No. 2 in the Race to the WTA Finals.

But that’s not what matters most to her at the moment. With this title, Swiatek finally delivered a lasting legacy in Seoul – something her father, Tomasz Swiatek, narrowly missed.

“I’m happy that I could win here because of the family history,” Swiatek said. “My dad couldn’t win the Olympics [here] but at least I won this tournament. So hopefully he’s going to come next year to enjoy everything.”

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Iga went from no titles to winning a Grand Slam, a WTA 1000 and a WTA 500 in a span of a few months. 

Not a bad way to turn your season around. This one was extra special given how hard she had to fight to win it (as well as her dad taking part in the 1988 Seoul Olympics). 

Not having her best tennis on the day. Champions always find a way as the saying goes, she continues her great run when it comes to finals. 

 First final in her career  she had to won from a set down too. With how much she has done in her young career thus far sometimes it catches me off guard that there are still firsts she has yet to experience.

I have been watching this sport since my teens and to this day I'm still surprised how one player can win a match despite playing worse than their opponent. 

Iga had a negative ratio of winners to errors and only made just over 50 percent of serves the entire match yet somehow she still won. Tennis truly is about winning the clutch points, and the definition of not how you start but how you finish. 

I think it's one of the things that reminds why I love this sport so much and stick with it year after year.

I hope these type of matches remind Iga once more that she is capable of scrapping and fighting and making a comeback even when not at her best on the day. I hope she uses this as a great confidence builder for the remainder of the season.

So that's 25 out of 30 finals that Iga has played at just 24 years of age. It's the stuff of legends and her career has barely begun. 

Phenomenal.

With this win Iga became only the 2nd Polish woman to win in Seoul since Aga Radwanska in 2013 (who coincidently was also seeded first and also came back from losing the first set).

Iga Swiatek pulls off double duty to reach Korea Open semis in tournament debut

A rainout the previous day created a packed Saturday schedule at the Korea Open, with both the quarterfinals and semifinals being held just hours apart.

World No. 2 Iga Swiatek handled the challenge with ease.

She opened against Barbora Krejcikova in what was expected to be a competitive quarterfinal. Instead, Swiatek dominated, blanking the former Grand Slam champion in the first set. After trading breaks early in the second, she broke for a 4-3 lead and closed out the match 6-0, 6-3 in 1 hour and 23 minutes.

Following a brief break, Swiatek returned to the court to face rising star Maya Joint in their first career meeting. Joint had upset No. 3 seed Clara Tauson in the quarterfinals earlier in the day, also by a score of 6-0, 6-3.

But the 19-year-old’s run ended in the semifinals. Swiatek, unfazed by the quick turnaround, delivered another commanding performance, winning 6-0, 6-2 in just over an hour to secure her spot in the final.

It was another case of Swiatek wasting no time in asserting control over her opponent, breaking at love in the opening game and needing just 25 minutes to bagel Joint in the first set.

Joint held serve to start the second set to finally get on the board, but Swiatek reeled off four straight games to go up a set and a double break. Joint showed further signs of life by converting a break point later in the set, but Swiatek won the final two games, closing out the match with a smash at the net.

Though she doesn’t know who she’ll face in Sunday’s final just yet, Swiatek is prepared for what lies ahead, taking confidence in the level she’s displayed so far this week.

“Let’s see who I play,” Swiatek said after the match. “But I’ll just focus on myself and on the goals that I had before and continue to do what I was doing throughout the tournament, because it's been working.

“The final is supposed to be the toughest and it always produces a different kind of stress, so I’m just happy that I’ve already played solid matches here.”

It marks Swiatek’s fourth individual final of the season -- all since June. She is 2-1 in finals this year, with titles at Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Open, and 24-5 overall in her career.

This will be her first Korea Open final.

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14 - Iga Swiatek has won 14 sets with a 6-0 scoreline in WTA level events this season, twice as many than the second best (Ekaterina Alexandrova with seven). Sailing.

I think this marked only the 2nd time Iga has had to play same day back to back matches in her career on the WTA Tour (last one was on clay in Rome at least 3 years ago).

It was mighty impressive, court conditions in Korea really seem to suit her game.

Iga Swiatek makes winning debut at Korea Open

No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek made a victorious debut at the Korea Open 2025 presented by Motiva on Thursday, defeating Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-2 to post her sixth win in six meetings with the Romanian -- and afterwards, she revealed the family connection that made it extra special.

Swiatek's father, Tomasz, was a rower who competed in the men's quadruple sculls event at one Olympic Games -- Seoul 1988. This may be his daughter's first time in the city, but she's been hearing about it for all of her life.

"The Olympics in 1988 were the highlight of his career, and he's been telling us stories about it since me and my sister were kids," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "So I'm happy to explore this city -- he's been talking about being here as a great adventure. I play a different sport, but still we're at the Olympic venue and I'm surprised by how the whole city is still appreciating the Olympic tradition. It's great, because this event is the best the world has in any area. Playing here for sure is an honor, and maybe next year my dad will come!"

Playing her first match since losing in the US Open quarterfinals to Amanda Anisimova, Swiatek got off to a fast start against an opponent to whom she has only ever dropped one set -- the first set of their first meeting back at the 2022 Australian Open. She hammered a pair of forehand winners en route to breaking Cirstea in the first game, and swiftly built a 5-1 lead.

Cirstea still battled hard, saving the first five points against her with fine serving and getting one of the breaks back as Swiatek lapsed into error -- but another forehand winner from the Pole sealed her sixth set point. In the second set, Swiatek still had to navigate a few untidy moments -- she tallied 19 winners to 21 unforced errors overall -- but nonetheless saved all three break points against her, and converted her first match point as Cirstea sent a forehand long.

Swiatek advanced to her 13th quarterfinal in 15 tournaments this year (excluding team competitions). She will next face a fellow major champion -- either No. 8 seed Emma Raducanu or Barbora Krejcikova  

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Iga Swiatek falls short of U.S. Open semis as Anisimova avenges Wimbledon title demolition

 

NEW YORK -- After her fourth-round win over Beatriz Haddad Maia on Labor Day, Amanda Anisimova said in her on-court interview that she had hoped for a bit more love from the New York crowd.

She got it in spades on Wednesday. With the fans firmly in her corner in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the American knocked off six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-3 to reach her first US Open semifinal.

Playing for the first time since Swiatek's 6-0, 6-0 trouncing in the Wimbledon final, they traded breaks to start the match and held to 4-4 after Swiatek forced deuce on an incredible 17-shot rally in the eighth game and took the next two points. Anisimova held in her next game and, on her second set point, a Swiatek forehand sailed long to give the New Jersey native her second break and the set.

The Wimbledon champion jumped out to a quick start in the second set, breaking and consolidating for a 2-0 lead, but with the crowd rallying her on — chants of "We love you Amanda" were consistent all afternoon — the eighth seed took the next three games and the lead. Swiatek held to even it, but that would be her final game of the afternoon.

Anisimova held for 4-3 with the assistance of a net cord, and then broke for 5-3 on a Swiatek double fault. Serving for a spot in the semis, with three match points to play with, Anisimova lost the next two points -- including one on a double fault -- before finishing off her opponent with another ball that hit the net and died before Swiatek could push it into play.

Anisimova finished with 23 winners to Swiatek's 13 and converted four of nine break points. The World No. 2 had just four break point opportunities and converted two of them.

"Today was definitely different than any other match here, or that I've played ever, because of the circumstances," Anisimova said after the match. "But yeah, I think that I was really trying to go in with the right mindset, especially the last 24 hours, really preparing myself more mentally than physically for today. I'm really pleased with the way I was able to go into it and perform."

Despite the lopsided win at Wimbledon, Swiatek knew her opponent would come ready to play and would be anything but an easy out.

"I think everybody knows how Amanda can play," the Polish 24-year-old said. "Yeah, she didn't play well in Wimbledon, but it's not like she's always going to do the same mistakes or feel the same. I know that she's a good player. She can play great tennis. So for me, I was ready for a tough match.

"It's not a surprise. I practice with her. I know how she can play. It was totally different. She moved better, she played better. Yeah, everything was different."

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Well she fell short again, but it was a wonderful run especially given the fact that she later revealed on Instagram she's been having a foot issue the entire tournament (I'm sure all those mixed doubles matches with Casper didn't help).

I saw a photo on social media that surfaced during the tournament of a practice session with Iga's foot being heavily bandaged and her wincing in pain. She kept it hush hush so I doubt too many people knew till her post after the loss today. 

She didn't even say anything about not being able to practice much, nor about the foot itself in her post match press conferences.  

So given all that it's quite amazing she made it as far as she did. 

A foot issue would definitely make it difficult to serve which explains the fluctuations of it match to match (and especially today). 

Nevertheless she soldiered on. 

As great champions always do. 

Sad for the loss but happy she'll be able to rest and rehab that foot properly now before heading off to Asia (I'm kind of hoping she skips Seoul and starts off in Beijing).

Fingers crossed the foot doesn't become a bigger issue for the remainder of this season.

Thank you for an amazing summer of tennis Iga, the Wimbledon win will remain one of the sweetest memories of this year.

See you in the fall champ.

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek back in U.S. Open quarterfinals

Seconds after wrapping up a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova in the US Open fourth round, Iga Swiatek was on her phone.

Not to check for the latest Taylor Swift updates, as she had been a few days previously, but to get some more hitting time after a one-sided rout that had flashed by in just 64 minutes.

"I asked [my coach] to book 10 minutes of practice court, if it's possible," No. 2 seed Swiatek admitted in her on-court interview with a laugh.

The matchup had, on paper, been a potentially tricky one. Coming into it, Swiatek led the pair's head-to-head 4-2 -- but on outdoor hard courts, Alexandrova held a 2-1 advantage with wins at the Gippsland Trophy 2021 and Miami 2024. Moreover, the 30-year-old has reached a career high of No. 12 after making the Monterrey final last week, and conceded just 10 games over three matches to get to the last 16.

Swiatek has been enjoying a summer surge, claiming the Wimbledon and Cincinnati titles this year -- she has now won 18 of her past 19 matches -- but the first week in New York had not been smooth sailing for the Pole. In the second round, she was stretched to three sets by Suzan Lamens and in the third had to overturn a 5-1 first-set deficit to beat No. 29 seed Anna Kalinskaya. 

Alexandrova has enjoyed a career-best Grand Slam season, making the last 16 at each of the last three majors, but has yet to advance to the quarterfinal stage at this level. Swiatek, too, has put together her most consistent year at the Grand Slams to date, having now reached at least the quarterfinals at each major. The 24-year-old is the youngest player to achieve that feat since an 18-year-old Maria Sharapova in 2005.

Overall, Swiatek has now reached 13 Grand Slam quarterfinals. Among active players, only Venus Williams (39), Victoria Azarenka (18) and Aryna Sabalenka (14) have made more; Swiatek has tied the total of Elina Svitolina and the freshly-retired Petra Kvitova. 

She will next face No. 8 seed Amanda Anisimova, who raced past No. 18 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-0, 6-3 in just 1 hour and 15 minutes. 

It will be a rematch of July's Wimbledon final, in which Swiatek whitewashed Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 to claim her sixth Grand Slam title.

'Intensity and focus': Unlike her previous two matches, Swiatek barely put a foot wrong as she dismantled Alexandrova with 21 winners, including seven aces, to just 13 unforced errors. It wasn't surprising that, afterwards, she said she was happiest with the "intensity and focus" she had managed to maintain.

"I felt like I'm really in my bubble, in the zone," she continued. "Sometimes I was making risky decisions, and I think I forced the ball to go in."

Swiatek's redirected backhand down the line was responsible for a slew of highlights, and she dropped serve just once -- in the second game of the match, thanks to a pair of double faults.

Alexandrova, on the other hand, was unable to deliver the blistering power game that has seen her notch 38 match wins this year. Despite holding her own through the first six games, facing a break point at 3-3 in the first set Alexandrova tapped a sitter forehand into the net with the court wide open. Two games later, she conceded the first set with consecutive double faults and another netted drop shot. She won just one more game in the match, double faulting again to go down 5-1 in the second set.

In the final game, Swiatek withstood a handful of fiery returns from Alexandrova to save three break points and convert her first match point with another backhand winner down the line.

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Best match Iga has played all tournament everything worked as she said she was in the zone or bubble as she called it. 

When she's in full flow like this it is an absolute joy to witness. 

Going from one of her worst matches in the last round to one of her best in a span of 2 days is what makes Iga such a great champion. 

I think the day conditions vs night played a big part in it as well. She just really doesn't like playing at night and always plays better early in day.

Iga Swiatek survives a rollercoster at night to reach U.S. Open round of 16

 

Iga Swiatek overcame a slow start to defeat No. 29 seed Anna Kalinskaya 7-6 (2), 6-4 in 1 hour and 56 minutes Saturday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, advancing to the Round of 16 at the US Open for the fifth straight year.

Swiatek trailed 5-1 and faced four set points in the opening set before mounting a comeback, winning six of the next seven games and dominating the tiebreak. She carried that momentum into the second set to close out the match in straight sets.

How did she do it? Even the former World No. 1 herself couldn’t explain it.

“Oh, my God, I don’t know,” Swiatek said after the match. “Honestly, Anna was playing great. She was getting all these risky balls in like she once did against me in Dubai. So, I just wanted to make less mistakes, because I felt like I was playing well.

“I felt like I had nothing to lose because I was losing pretty badly. So, at the end (of the first set) I just went for it, because what more can I do?"

The victory marks Swiatek’s 23rd career main-draw win at the US Open. She only has more at Roland Garros (40) in a single WTA-level tournament.

Here are some takeaways following Swiatek’s remarkable third-round comeback:

Serving struggles: After jumping out to a big lead in the first set, it was ultimately Kalinskaya’s serve that unraveled her chances against Swiatek.

Kalinskaya committed 11 double faults on the night, many at crucial moments. She served for the first set three times, but double faults in each of those games led to breaks. By the time the players reached the tiebreak, she had already tallied seven.

Swiatek wasn’t flawless on serve either, landing just over 43% of first serves. Still, she won 76% of those points and converted 50% on her second serve -- 14 percentage points higher than Kalinskaya. Swiatek faced only two break points in the second set, maintaining control as Kalinskaya’s serve continued to falter.

Swiatek’s tiebreak breakthrough: Tiebreaks have been a rare weak spot for Swiatek this season.

Entering Saturday’s match, she was 4-7 in tiebreaks at the WTA level in 2025 and 0-2 in tiebreaks at Grand Slams. Her 7-2 win in the opening-set tiebreak marked her first since defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova in a second-set tiebreak in the Bad Homburg quarterfinals in June.

Fittingly, Alexandrova awaits in the next round.

Looking ahead: Swiatek will face Alexandrova in the fourth round Monday.

She holds a 5-2 head-to-head advantage at the WTA level. While Swiatek won their most recent meeting in Bad Homburg, Alexandrova claimed their last hard-court clash in Miami last year.

A win Monday would send Swiatek to her third career US Open quarterfinal.

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I'm just going to chulk this performance especially serve wise to Iga playing her first night match of the tournament. 

Which she's generally not a fan of anywhere, but especially here where it's extra loud and rowdy due to people walking around being a little tipsy etc. 

I think that might have messed up her concentration quite a bit. 

Still have no idea how she won that first set (got a bit lucky with Kalinskaya squandering 3 chances to serve it out) and was also helped out by so many double faults. 

But I give her huge credit for not blowing a gasket when it comes to her service percentage. It was probably the worst I've seen her serve on a hard court in years. 

Thankfully she didn't seem to notice as she pointed out in her post match interview and just went about her business anyway.

She will definitely need to find her first serve against Alexandrova because she will not be gifting Iga chances the way Kalinskaya was today. 

Thankfully Iga will be playing in the afternoon so that should help her serve better. 

And having faced a flat hitter in Kalinskaya she'll at least be well prepared for the same with Alexandrova. 

3 - Iga Swiatek has reached all four Women’s Singles rounds of 16 at Grand Slams in a season for the third time, becoming the first player to achieve the feat in three seasons since Agnieszka Radwanska in 2016. Reference.

20 - Two players (Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka) have claimed 20 Women’s Singles match wins at Grand Slams in a season for the first time since 2016 (Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams). Sabatek.

20 - Since 2000, only three players have reached 20 Women’s Singles rounds of 16 in fewer Grand Slam main draws than Iga Swiatek (27) – Venus Williams (23), Martina Hingis (25) and Serena Williams (26). Company.

Iga Swiatek through to 3rd round at U.S. Open

 

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek survived a stern test from Suzan Lamens in the second round of the US Open, but eventually pulled through 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 6 minutes to extend her winning streak to seven matches.

After a one-sided opening set, Swiatek twice led by a break in the second, but was unable to put away a valiant Lamens as the Dutchwoman settled into the contest -- resulting in Swiatek's first dropped set since her fourth-round loss in Montreal to Clara Tauson. 

In the decider, she also had to hold off a late charge from 4-1 down by Lamens. However, it wasn't enough to prevent Swiatek from notching her 16th win in her past 17 matches, a stretch that includes the Wimbledon and Cincinnati titles this summer.

The Pole will next face No. 29 seed Anna Kalinskaya, who defeated Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 7-5 to reach the US Open third round for a second straight year. Swiatek and Kalinskaya have split two previous meetings, with Kalinskaya winning 6-4, 6-4 in the 2024 Dubai semifinals and Swiatek avenging that loss 6-3, 6-4 in the Cincinnati quarterfinals two weeks ago.

How did Lamens manage to push Swiatek?

The late-blooming Lamens has little experience at the very top of the game. This year has seen her play each of the Grand Slam main draws for the first time at the age of 26, and her matchup with Swiatek was just the third time she had faced a Top 10 opponent in her career. But there have been signs that she has the game to compete at this level. Last April, she notched her first Top 10 win over Jelena Ostapenko in Billie Jean King Cup Group III action. In October, she captured her first Hologic WTA Tour title in Osaka as a qualifier. In the past 12 months, she's risen from No. 121 to No. 66 in the PIF WTA Rankings.

Though over-matched in the first set, Lamens was able to bring her best weaponry to the court in the second: a heavy topspin forehand which she could direct to every corner for winners, a sneaky drop shot and a fine backhand lob. The latter was responsible for the best shot of the match -- and one with which she broke Swiatek back for 2-2 in the second set.

By now, Lamens had warmed to her task and become accustomed to Swiatek's weight of shot, drawing the six-time major champion into several excellent extended rallies. Down a break again at 4-3, Lamens lost one of the longest, a 22-stroke lungbuster -- but the pressure she had started to exert was evident as Swiatek coughed up two double faults to lose her break lead again. Two games later, Swiatek delivered another error-strewn service game to send the match into a decider.

How did Swiatek get back on track?

"The third set is a reset," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "You gotta start from the beginning and play a little bit more precise."

That's exactly what she did. Having committed 12 unforced errors in the second set, she reduced that number to seven in the third. And she began to punish Lamens relentlessly for her vulnerability on serve. Four of Lamens' eight double faults came in the third set, including twice to go down break point. Swiatek converted both of those by unleashing on a second-serve return, and leapt out to a quick 4-1 lead.

Lamens battled to retrieve one of the breaks, but Swiatek maintained her focus this time -- and came up with a superb hot shot of her own, a laser backhand winner into the corner off a Lamens smash. She converted her third match point with her seventh ace of the day.

"I know that I kind of let her in after the first set, and she used her chances and she immediately knew what to do with that," Swiatek said. "So for sure, she deserves the games that she won. I wouldn't say surprised. But yeah, I think she got her level up a bit in terms of not making so many mistakes, as she did in the first set."

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Iga definitely lost her concentration mid way through that match but got it back when it mattered. 

Kalinskya could be tricky in night conditions (and it'll be Iga's first night match too). 

23/23 - Iga Swiatek is the first player in the Open Era to reach the Third Round at all Women’s Singles Grand Slam events for the first six years in a single decade (23/23 in 2020s). Law.


23 - Iga Swiatek is the fourth player in the Open Era to reach the Third Round in 23+ consecutive Women’s Singles Grand Slam events after Martina Navratilova, Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Habit.