A tennis player's white whale, so often, is winning their home tournament. In two decades in the Australian Open singles main draw, Samantha Stosur never reached the quarterfinals. It's been 20 years since an American man last won the US Open in singles. Pick any one of the litany of French players who've taken the court at Roland Garros since the days of Yannick Noah and Mary Pierce, and they'll tell you that a jam-packed stadium full of passionate Parisians is, in reality, a double-edged sword.
This year on the WTA Tour, fortunes for local favorites have been mixed. Katie Boulter beat Jodie Burrage in the final in Nottingham, the first all-British final on the women's tour since 1977, but Caroline Garcia and Jasmina Paolini both fell short in the final of events in Lyon, France in February, and Palermo, Italy, last week.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek, the dominant force on the WTA for the last 18 months, is hoping that on Sunday, she'll be standing in Boulter's company. Reigning US Open champion Swiatek's summer hard-court season is starting ahead of schedule, at a WTA 250 event in Warsaw, the Polish capital.
Twelve months ago, Swiatek lost in the quarterfinals to champion Caroline Garcia in her tournament debut, when the event was held on her favored clay. This year's pitstop in her backyard, again coming just before she heads across the Atlantic for WTA 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati, figures to be better-suited prep for the year's final major, which starts in a month's time.
Though she cleared the first hurdle in a 6-4, 6-3 win over Uzbekistan's Nigina Abduraimova on Tuesday, Swiatek was far from her vintage best. She faced eight break points and lost serve twice, let a lead of 4-2 slip in the opener, and made things complicated from 5-1 in the second set before ending the 95-minute match on her fourth match point.
There were adjustments made throughout, Swiatek said, from her playing style in her first hard-court match since March, to the "different stresses" she was experiencing mentally.
"First rounds, they aren't easy, and anybody who knows a little bit about tennis, they'll tell you that it's a little bit harder to play at home," she said afterwards in her on-court interview.
"But I'm happy to have a chance to play in front of the Polish crowds. They are following me every place that I play, but in Warsaw, it's even better. It's amazing, and I'm happy that I can enjoy that.
"Coming from grass courts ... for sure, I need to work on some stuff, but hopefully, I'm going to play better and better every day."
Wednesday's play in Warsaw was washed out due to rain, but Swiatek is expected to return to the court Thursday against either American Claire Liu or China's Yuan Yue.
For her personal comfort level, she might be hoping to see the American: Swiatek has never played Yuan, but is 3-0 against Liu all-time. She's lost just five games in two matches against her this year.
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