Thursday, January 27, 2022

Iga Swiatek falls short of finals at Aussie Open, leaves Melbourne with new found perspective


Iga Swiatek learning quickly

The 20-year-old Polish star knows what it's like to feel invincible on the tennis court. That's why she recognized it right away as a zoning Collins played a pitch-perfect match to win 6-4, 6-1.

"I tried to find solutions, but I can assume what feelings she had today on court, because I do have that feeling sometimes," Swiatek said. "It's kind of hard to stop an opponent when they are playing like that.

"I wasn't thinking like that on the court, but after, I'm not even feeling any regrets because I did the best I could today."

Like Keys, Swiatek leaves Australia far more dangerous than when she arrived. Her bonafides are well-proven on clay, but Swiatek believes she still has plenty of improvements to make to get her game where she wants on hard court. That's a scary thought for a player who just made the Australian Open semifinal.

To make her first hard-court semifinal at a Slam, Swiatek notched back-to-back wins from a set down for the first time in her career, doing so to defeat Sorana Cirstea in the fourth round and Kaia Kanepi in the quarterfinals. On Monday she will return to the Top 5, at No.4.

"[I learned that] I don't have to play perfect tennis to win matches, even on hard court," Swiatek said. "That's my best result on hard court besides winning Adelaide. That's positive, because I always wanted to improve on hard court. I like the fact that I won against Sorana and Kaia, mentally and physically, and I gave my heart on court. So that's great. I'm pretty happy that I'm able to also play aggressive and be ready on fast surfaces."

Swiatek leaves Australia with an 8-2 record to start the season. Her two losses came to the two women who will face off Saturday for the Australian Open title, Ashleigh Barty and Danielle Collins. Having had a close-up look at each of their games, Swiatek was asked to put on her analyst hat.

"It's hard to predict anything, because on one hand, Ash is playing differently," Swiatek said. "She's playing different than any other girl, and she can really reset the rally even when someone is really playing fast.

"She's No.1, so I think it's a bigger possibility that she's gonna find a solution for Danielle's game than me.

"I'm just curious how it's gonna look like in the final, and I'm gonna for sure be watching W and learning."


Well it just wasn't to be today, the opponent was too good, and Iga's serve was just not there. I'm sad and disappointed she lost, but proud of the progression she made this tournament and the one prior when it comes to hard courts. 

I'm extremely grateful I got to witness some extraordinary tennis from Iga over the past 10 days. She made the tournament an absolute joy for me to watch, and I will never forget the fantastic fighting spirit she showed coming back from a set down in 2 back to back matches. 

I will be replaying that quarterfinal match point for the rest of this year. 

With this type of form as long as she stays healthy, I have no doubt Iga will have plenty of chances at other tournaments and majors this year. 

Thank you for a fantastic beginning to the year, keep your head held high Iga!. 

We're all proud of you, congrats on reaching world #4 in the WTA rankings. 

Onward to the next one!. 

Jazda!.

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