Iga Swiatek first ever Polish tennis player to make Olympic semis

 

Iga after getting smacked by a ball in the chest. Ouch.

World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland moved into the medal rounds of the 2024 Paris Olympics, advancing past No.8 seed Danielle Collins of the United States 6-1, 2-6, 4-1 ret. on Wednesday. Swiatek is currently on a 20-match winning streak on clay.

Top-seeded Swiatek was forced to regroup after being outhit by Collins in the second set, but the Pole eventually eased ahead 4-0 in the third set before Collins retired from the match after two hours of action.


Nearly perfect in Paris: With her wins at the 2024 Games, Swiatek increases her legacy of success at Roland Garros, the site of the tennis event at the XXXIII Olympiad.

Adding her four victories this week to her total, Swiatek is now 39-2 on the historic grounds, including winning four French Open titles in the last five years.

Collins, playing in her final season on tour at the age of 30, was seeking her second career win over a reigning World No.1 (having previously beaten Ashleigh Barty at 2021 Adelaide), but she was unable to complete the match and fell to 1-7 against Swiatek.

Zheng awaits: Swiatek will face a second straight Top 10 player when she meets No.6 seed Zheng Qinwen of China in the semifinals. Zheng ended the career of former World No.1 Angelique Kerber earlier on Wednesday, edging the German in a third-set tiebreak.

The winner of that match will reach the gold-medal final, and the loser will play for the bronze. Swiatek has a commanding 6-0 head-to-head lead over Zheng.

Match moments: On Wednesday, Swiatek had minimal trouble taking the one-set lead, although a shift in momentum was on the cards when she had to fend off the first three break points she faced in the last game of the set.

Indeed, Collins was overpowering with her service returns in the second set, using depth and speed with that shot to break Swiatek twice and storm into a decisive third set.

But Swiatek quickly raced to a double-break lead in the final set, and Collins needed to take a medical-time out while trailing 3-0. Collins got on the scoreboard at 4-1 but the American could go no further, sending Swiatek into the semis.

wtatennis.com

Gotta love how the WTA website doesn't even mention the post match controversy that transpired as Collins went to shake hands with Iga. 

Words were exchanged after which Iga looked stunned and confused. Collins walked off mid shake without giving Iga the chance to reply. 

Then added fuel to the fire by explaining in the post match presser that she told Iga she doesn't need her insincerity (regarding Collins supposed injury).  If anyone is insincere it's Danielle Collins. 

Why else would you retire saying you can't play anymore (4-1 down), only to turn around two hours later and play doubles. 

You were losing and didn't want to give your opponent the satisfaction of finishing things off.  You can phrase it however you want but that spells sour grapes to me.  

She also talked about exhaustion and sun stroke, but let's be honest if she was truly feeling that bad she would not have stepped on that court again.

This whole thing has really put everyone off I don't think this sort of behavior will garner Collins any more fans even if it is her last year on tour. This sort of thing is actually the reason I've never been a fan. 

Absolutely appalling. 

First she had the audacity to smack Iga in the chest with the ball really hard (which I admit is a hazard of the sport) but this one really seemed deliberate.  Then she accused Iga of being fake genuine. Seriously?. 

I fully expected her to have an issue with Iga holding up the person serving by holding up her racket which is a bad habit of hers and many people have a problem with, but no we get this instead completely out of left field. 

Iga for her part handled everything with class not wanting to get involved in any stupid feud. Only had good things to say about her opponent. 

Saying not sure what the problem was, and that whatever it  was emotions were understandably running high. 

Then proceeded to say how she only wanted to wish her well regarding her injury and good luck with this being her last year on tour. 

Doesn't sound like someone who's insincere to me. 

But enough about all that crazy non sense.  

Let's all bask in the fact that Iga freaking Swiatek has made the semi finals of the Olympics!. 

A historic feat for Poland. 

Tomorrow she'll be going for a chance at the gold on Saturday. I have no idea how I'm going to survive trying to watch this tomorrow morning at 6am. I will be an absolute bundle of nerves. 

But just like in this match I believe in Iga's ability on this surface. If  she can keep her nerves in check it should be lot less dramatic or traumatic I should say.

Go for it Iga give it your all as always the whole country is behind you.

Jazda!

5 - Iga Swiatek is the player with the most clay court semi-finals in a single season (five) since Serena Williams and Sara Errani in 2013 (also five). Dominator.


4 - Iga Swiatek is the 4th player to make the Women's Singles SFs at the Olympics as World No. 1 since tennis returned to the Olympic program in 1988 after Graf (Seoul 1988), Henin (Athens 2004) and Azarenka (London 2012). Top.


25 - Iga Swiatek is the player fifth player to win 25+ clay court matches in an entire season this Century: Angeles Montolio (2001) Jelena Jankovic (2007) Sara Errani (2012) Serena Williams (2013) Iga Swiatek (2024)

Iga Swiatek first ever Polish player to reach Olympic Quaterfinals

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland reached her first career Olympic quarterfinal with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over China's Wang Xiyu at the 2024 Paris Games on Tuesday. With the win, Swiatek becomes the first Polish player to make an Olympic quarterfinal in singles.

Top-seeded Swiatek needed 1 hour and 51 minutes to hold off Wang, who is placed World No.52 in the PIF WTA Singles Rankings. Swiatek collected her second clay-court win over Wang this year, having previously topped the Chinese left-hander at Madrid.

In her previous Olympic appearance, Swiatek fell to Paula Badosa in the second round at 2021 Tokyo on hard court. But things might turn out quite differently for the Pole this time around, where she will aim for medals on the clay of Roland Garros, a site where she has dominated.

Swiatek's win over Wang on Tuesday came on Court Philippe Chatrier -- the very arena where she has captured four French Open titles in the last five years. Including her three wins this week, Swiatek is a commanding 38-2 on the grounds of Roland Garros throughout her career.

Wang gave Swiatek a true challenge in both sets on Tuesday, holding three break points combined in Swiatek's first three service games. However, Swiatek erased those chances, then fired a backhand crosscourt passing winner to earn the first break of the day and lead 4-2.

Swiatek took the first set, then eased ahead by a break at 4-3 in the second set. Wang had a medical time-out after that game, where her strapped left leg was attended to. The Chinese player came out firing in the next game, breaking at love for 4-4.

But Swiatek regained her break lead at 5-4, then fended off a final charge by Wang in the next game, saving one last break point. Swiatek closed out the match with her first ace of the day.

To reach the medal rounds, Swiatek will have to take down No.8 seed Danielle Collins of the United States in the quarters. Swiatek has a commanding 6-1 head-to-head lead over Collins, but the American's one win came in a huge match -- the 2022 Australian Open semifinals.

wtatennis.com

I know there are quite a few fans out there who are stressed or afraid of Iga having to face Collins next. Partly because we all want Iga to win a medal so badly. 

And Collins can be a challenge.

While I think the fans concerns are valid I also trust Iga on clay more then any other surface to find solutions under immense pressure and stress. 

She has proven that by winning the last 3 Roland Garros in a row. 

I realize the Olympics bring with it a different kind of  pressure, but I  truly think even with all of the expectations this time Iga will find a way. I think it'll be close but she'll find a way. 

I don't actually think they've ever faced each other on clay and Iga is just a different beast on this surface. 

Poland is with you Iga, we believe. 

Give it your all as you always do, and just go for it tomorrow.

Jazda!

17 consecutive sets won on Philippe-Chatrier. 

50th win of 2024 22nd win in a row on clay

Iga Swiatek makes it 23 straight Roland Garros matches with another Olympics win

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak on the grounds of Roland Garros to 23 straight matches with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of France's Diane Parry in the second round of the Olympics on Monday.

After a nervy start to her second Olympics, trailing 5-3 in the second set of her opening-round match against Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu, Swiatek was imperious against the home favorite in her 1-hour and 14-minute victory, and avoided the fate that befell her in her debut three years ago. She broke the World No.59's serve five times, never faced a break point herself and only surrendered 10 points in seven service games.

Swiatek won the last four games of her first-round match on Saturday, and her run of consecutive games hit nine by winning the first five games against Parry. The Frenchwoman denied her a 10th, erasing two set points and getting on the board in a five-deuce hold of serve, but Swiatek eventually took her one-set lead on her fifth set point. It was a similar story for Parry in the second set: Her second game was won with her already trailing 2-0, and she saved a break point in that hold as well.

After beating Nadia Podoroska in two tight sets in her Olympic debut, the 21-year-old also gave the surging Swiatek an assist by hitting 24 unforced errors in the 14 games -- to just eight winners.

Also through was another woman, who, like Swiatek, has spent time at the top of the PIF WTA Rankings: Angelique Kerber. The German, who announced that the Olympics will be the final tournament of her career, mounted another comeback to reach the Round of 16.

After ousting Naomi Osaka in the first round, Kerber came from a break down in the final set on Monday to defeat No.57 Jaqueline Cristian 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

The former No.1 once again proved her resilience, a quality that has been the bedrock of her illustrious career, one the German wasn't ready to see end. A silver medalist at Rio 2016, Kerber fell behind by an early break in the third set before getting the match back on her terms with her trademark counter-punching.

With the help of an audacious drop shot winner, Kerber held to lead 5-4 before breaking the Romanian to seal the match. Cristian struck a double fault to give Kerber double match point at 15-40, but gamely saved them both, the second with a stunning forehand stab volley. But Kerber would not be denied. Her scrambling defense sealed the win on her third match point.

wtatennis.com

What did I say in my last post, soon as the roof went away Iga turned into a different player. 

With tomorrow being a scorcher of a day in Paris of about 37C I fear they may have to put the roof up.

 Iga is playing at night tomorrow at Roland Garros for the first time in few years as well. 

So different types of challenges awaiting tomorrow. 

21 - Iga Swiatek is the fourth player this Century to win more than 20 consecutive clay court matches (21), after Serena Williams (28), Justine Henin (27) and Maria Sharapova (21). Playground.

Iga Swiatek back to winning ways on clay at the Paris Olympics

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek made a winning start to her quest for a gold medal at the Paris Olympics with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Irina-Camela Begu at Roland Garros on Saturday.

The 1-hour, 45-minute win on Court Philippe-Chatrier earned the prohibitive podium favorite -- winning any medal in Paris would be a "dream come true," she says -- a 22nd straight win on the grounds of Roland Garros, and a 20th consecutive clay-court win this year after she captured titles in the spring in Madrid, Rome and Paris.


But she did not have things all her own way in her return to her favorited surface against a former Top 25 player in Begu -- who twice in her career has reached the second week of the French Open, and was entered in her third Olympics on an injury-protected ranking after she missed six months in the last year due to injury.

Playing with the roof closed due to rain, Swiatek hit more unforced errors than winners (30 to 22) but had more than her fair share of opportunities on return to avoid a third set. She broke Begu's serve five times in 15 total opportunities, and won the match's last four games.

But it was in that stretch where Swiatek cleaned up her game the most: She hit just one unforced error in the last four games to start her second Olympic campaign with a win.

Swiatek will play either Argentina's Nadia Podoroska or France's Diane Parry in the second round, the round in which she suffered a shock exit in her Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago.

wtatennis.com  

Bit of a nervy start for Iga (understandably). I think it was mostly the change of conditions having to play under the damn roof again. 

Basically Roland Garros early rounds all over again. 

Thankfully the forecast in Paris looks good for the rest of the week so hopefully Iga will adjust as she did in week two of RG.

Iga Swiatek's Wimbledon journey ends in another 3rd round exit

World No.1 Iga Swiatek summed up her frustration perfectly after her third-round loss to Yulia Putintseva at Wimbledon. The 22-year-old is the dominant force on the Hologic WTA Tour. She has won more than anyone else over the last three seasons. Just four weeks ago, she captured her third consecutive Roland Garros title and fifth Grand Slam overall.

And now, just three matches later, she saw her 21-match win streak -- 19 of which were built on her favored clay -- come to a listless end. After taking the first set over Putintseva, she lost 12 of the next 15 games.

"For me going from this kind of tennis where I felt like I'm playing the best tennis in my life to another surface where I kind of struggle a little bit more, it's not easy," Swiatek told reporters after the loss.

"All that stuff really combines to me not really having a good time in Wimbledon."

For the third consecutive year, Wimbledon feels like a penalty Swiatek is forced to accept for her clay-court supremacy. It remains the only Slam at which she has yet to make it past the quarterfinals, which she has done just once.

In 2022, she saw her 37-match win streak end in the third round to Alizé Cornet. Last year, she cut her R&R short to play a pre-Wimbledon tournament and went on to post her best result so far in the quarterfinals.

This year, she did not play a pre-tournament event but she also didn't do much resting. As a result, Swiatek admitted to feeling the mental strain. For a player who won two tournaments during the clay season from match-points down, she struggled to find her fight.

"My tank of really pushing myself to the limits became suddenly, like, empty," Swiatek said. "I was kind of surprised. But I know what I did wrong after Roland Garros. I didn't really rest properly. I'm not going to make this mistake again.

"After such a tough clay court season, I really must have my recovery. Maybe that's also the reason."

Swiatek was hoping she would be able to transfer her confidence and level to grass after a few matches, and that may have proven true if she could navigate her way through the first week. She plays her best when she's allowed to tap into her intuition and instincts, which only works if she's feeling confident.

But Swiatek never looked in full flow in the first week and Putintseva was able to expose her insecurities on the surface. Swiatek has prided herself in her improved ability on clay and hard courts to adjust tactically throughout a match and to deploy a Plan B or C.

Grass still requires a different equation for the World No.1. Swiatek's frustrations were evident as Putintseva took control of the match. She just couldn't get out of her own way and find a solution.

"I feel like on grass I need little bit more of that energy to keep being patient and accept some mistakes," Swiatek said. "Like mentally, I didn't really do that well on this tournament. I need to recover better after clay court season, both physically and mentally."

"I literally came back to work -- not tennis-wise, but off-court stuff -- and I shouldn't have done that. Maybe next year I'm going to take a vacation and literally just do nothing."

Swiatek isn't one to let a loss linger. In a season that has already seen her secure five Hologic WTA Tour titles, this was just her fifth loss of the year. She is an outstanding 45-5 on the season.

"I lost in the third round," Swiatek said. "I felt like I underachieved a little bit.

"But it's tennis, so you have to move on. I'll have many more chances this year to show my game. I'll just focus on that."

wtatennis.com

Honestly as sad as I initially was about this loss, it may just be a blessing in disguise when it comes to Olympic preparation. 

It'll give her a bit more time to rest and switch her mind and body on to her preferred surface of clay. 

Would I have liked for her to go further this year? of course (I was hoping for at least the quarterfinals) but knowing grass is still not a surface she's comfortable on I kept my expectations fairly low. 

I did see huge improvements in regards to the new service motion and grass so that's one great positive, the rest is simply a work in progress. 

I think not playing a warm up tournament probably didn't do her any favors (last year she played better when she did). 

But with the grass season being so short it's understandable she wanted to decompress more. She won 3 tournaments back to back on the dirt. I mean that's the stuff of legends really. 

The media and fans are unsurprisingly giving her a lot of flack, but they also forget it took even the G.o.a.t.s. time to figure this surface out. 

Serena Williams had plenty of week one exits before she finally won it for the first time, so did players with a game suited for the green stuff like Ash Barty. 

So I think in that sense everyone needs to ease up, she's 23 years old and has plenty of time to plan her schedule better and adapt on this surface in the near future. 

With hopefully a more favorable draw where she can actually play her way into the 2nd week.

Not that the tour makes it easy with all the big tournaments being 2 weeks now leaving even less rest time for players to recover. 

Not to mention that this year she made it no secret Olympics were her priority. And why shouldn't they be, she actually has a real chance at it this year. 

It's being played in Paris on clay her fave place and surface in the world. 

So I say Wimbledon can wait. And selfishly I'm actually glad she went out early given how many players got injured in week 1 with either, leg, thigh or shoulder issues which stemmed from falls or slips on the grass. 

Even poor Hubi Hurkacz who's Iga's mixed doubles partner at the Olympics did something to his knee (I'm still praying he'll recover in time to be able to play).  

While I hated that Iga lost to Putinseva of all people that also turned out to be a blessing because she would have had to play Jelena Ostapenko in the quarters who she already has a 0-4 record against so why possibly make that gap larger. 

Jelena probably already feels like she owns Iga (for now) this would have just made her more unbearable. Iga definitely dodged a huge bullet in that sense. 

While Iga's Wimbledon journey may have been short I'm now very much looking forward to her Olympic one. 

I want her to have a good run and hopefully win a medal (then I'll be able to finally erase the image of her weeping into a towel at the Tokyo Olympics a few years back).

Rest up Iga, plenty of great prizes still up for grabs this year. 

On to the next one.

Jazda.

Side note: I'll now be rooting for either former French Open Champion Barbora Krejcikova or this year's French Open runner up Jasmine Paolini to win in their semis tomorrow. 

And for one of them to win it all. 

Sadly 2-time finalist Ons Jabeur didn't make it far  year either. As long as Elena Rybakina isn't the one holding the trophy on Saturday I'll be ecstatic for whoever takes it. 

I do have a soft spot for the aforementioned 2 though. 

Iga Swiatek into another 3rd round at Wimbledon

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek started and finished her afternoon on Centre Court in business mode, dispatching Croatian Petra Martic 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday.

Make that ‘game, set, match, Swiatek’ for a tour-leading 45th time this season. With only four defeats in 2024, the ultra-focused, perfection-seeking Pole will take some stopping at The Championships in this form.

Swiatek has now also claimed victory in her past 18 Grand Slam second-round encounters to book a last 32 battle with recent Birmingham champion Yulia Putintseva.


“For sure I’m happy. It wasn’t easy because Petra is changing the rhythm a lot, she’s playing a lot of top spin, she’s playing slice and I needed to adjust quickly,” claimed Swiatek, extending her winning streak to 21 matches.

“It’s not the first time I’ve come into this tournament with a ‘streak,’ it’s not that easy to have this baggage on your shoulders. This year feels different. I don’t feel like everyone is focusing on it. Two years ago was a lot harder when it was 30 something matches (37).

“I know I’m now playing on a different surface, that brings different challenges and I’m just focusing on them and not on the statistics.”

The dedicated ‘Swiftie’ (Taylor Swift fan, if you’ve been hiding under a rock) subtly used a track off the American superstar’s ‘1989’ album to describe her current grass court development.

“I want to get better here, on grass. I don’t feel like I need to prove anything, because it’s a totally different story. I’m just starting with a ‘blank space’ and going with it.

“I feel like I’m making progress on grass, especially on the practice court and my goal is to implement it on matches. I have really low expectations, I’m focusing on the work and the results will come after.”

Heading onto court, the top seed knew she had prevailed in all three of their previous meetings, including a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Martic in the Wimbledon third round last summer. It was a fairly similar tale on Thursday.

Both players were pinging the ball across the net with some ferocious power.

Martic, competing in a milestone 50th major, sent out a warning signal with a forehand arrowed down the line at 2-2. Swiatek’s short, sharp response was to serve and strike consecutive forehand winners. So efficient, so clinical.

The champion instincts clicked in at 5-4, Swiatek stepped in and swatted away a catalogue of hot shot groundstrokes to steal away the opener.

Into the second set, at 2-1, the 23-year-old split stepped, struck a forehand and froze for a second to admire the mathematics. The ball landed in the crossover between the baseline and tramline. It was that kind of day.

Swiatek was turning the screw, probing for a pivotal breakthrough, but Martic was doing a stellar job of holding until 4-3. Three passing shots in the game exemplified Swiatek’s growing confidence on the surface. Passing Martic, passing the test, Swiatek was soon saluting the Wimbledon crowd once again.

wimbledon.com

18 - Iga Swiatek has made the R32 for the 18th consecutive Women’s Singles Grand Slam: in the Open Era, only Martina Navratilova (35), Conchita Martinez (30), Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (25) and Steffi Graf (19) had more in a row. Law.

21 - Iga Swiatek has become the first player to win more than 20 consecutive matches as World No. 1 since Serena Williams between the WTA Finals 2014 and Madrid 2015. Reigning.

Honestly can't say I'm a fan of Putinseva, I tend to avoid her matches because I find her extremely annoying. 

Her making fan of Iga as she served in one of their recent meetings on hard court didn't help change my mind on that. 

Her game is unpredictable as her personality, dropshots slices changes of rhythm. Iga will definitely have her work cut out, but if she keeps her cool I believe she can come through it (even with Putinseva winning a recent title on grass).

Iga Swiatek extends win streak to 20 with first round Wimbledon win

Much has been made of the rare break Iga Swiatek enjoyed from competition after her latest Grand  Slam triumph at Roland-Garros.

While her counterparts were rediscovering their best grass-court tennis, the world No.1 was decompressing from a heady period that earlier included consecutive WTA 1000-level titles in Madrid and Rome. After watching a Taylor Swift concert in Liverpool, Swiatek said it took three days to return to her normal sleeping patterns.

If that created questions about how the No.1 seed would fare on her return to the All England Club, Swiatek answered them emphatically.

With her 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sofia Kenin, Swiatek recorded her 20th straight match win – becoming the only active player on the WTA Tour, alongside Venus Williams, to secure multiple winning streaks of that number.

And as she entered the match against Kenin in her 110th week at world No.1, the Polish superstar provided many reminders of her dominance.

While Swiatek vastly outranks the No.49 American, she is far too clever a player to be fooled by the disparity in numbers. Their No.1 court meeting was the only first round pairing between two Grand Slam champions.

Swiatek claimed the first of her five majors at Roland-Garros in 2020, Kenin triumphing at the Australian Open earlier that year. And despite their different trajectories since those breakthroughs, Swiatek was well aware of the dangers Kenin posed on grass.

In 2023, the American pulled off one of the biggest shocks by stunning No.7 seed Coco Gauff in the first round.

Swiatek was therefore wise to assert her early authority against Kenin, showcasing her most efficient tennis as she raced to a 2-0 lead and dropped serve only once to secure the first set in 37 minutes.

The 25-year-old Kenin elevated her intensity in the second set. But with her confidence growing, a dialled-in Swiatek required only the briefest lapse to capitalise. She claimed another break of serve and consolidated to build a 5-3 advantage. Helped by consecutive aces, she calmly served out the match in the 10th game.

“It was a solid start and not an easy draw, so I'm happy that I have a chance to play another match here,” said Swiatek, now a winner of all three matches she’s contested against Kenin.

“Now on the WTA it's pretty easy to play against Grand Slam champions, even in first rounds, so you have to be ready for everything. These are experienced players so there's no time to get into the tournament slowly. You need to be ready straight away. So I'm happy that I did that today.”

With victory secured in an hour and 19 minutes, Swiatek could look to other notable numbers. Her 17 winners comfortably outnumbered Kenin’s nine, and the Pole saved three of the four break points that she faced.

Arguably even more impressive is Swiatek's 44 match wins this season – not that the 23-year-old is dwelling on those statistics as she aims to find her best form at SW19.

She suffered her only first-round loss at a Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2019, and her quarter-final appearance in 2023 is her best performance at The Championships.

“Honestly, on this surface, it's not about the result for me but about the process and kind of how that I feel,” said Swiatek.

“I'm doing things better than last year, so I'm not really looking at numbers or statistics, trying to just be better every day. For sure matches are different because there's a little bit more attention and everything, but on the practice court, I feel like every year I'm playing a little bit better on grass.”

It ensures that Swiatek will bring a dangerously relaxed mindset into her second round against Britain’s Francesca Jones or Petra Martic of Croatia.

“Obviously I had a great beginning of the season," she added. "So I feel like I can come here and kind of not worry about points or anything and just focus on what I want to focus (on)."

wimbledon.com