Well, what can I say about this match, I think it's best I start with the fact it was played late at night after 10pm and went way past midnight.
Conditions were, cold, slow and damp (with rain earlier in the day). Not ideal for someone like Iga who relies on the spin on her shots especially her forehand.
Night conditions rendered it a bit irrelevant allowing a scrapper like Svitolina to keep getting one more shot back (with balls which were undoubtedly more heavy).
It's no secret that Iga hates playing at night so the tournament didn't do her any favours there (and as her fan and a fan of the sport in general I reserve the right to be mad about that for a while).
Why are we still making players play after 11pm.
Just why?.
No other sport in the world does this it is dangerous, dumb and completely unnecessary.
Especially when you consider this tournament is 12 days long with breaks in between and a first week where the top 10 don't even play.
It's not like we couldn't have had both the women and men's final on the same day. Indian Wells does it and it's fantastic.
No instead we have this shit show where even yesterday a men's match went on until 2am.
Beyond ludicrous.
Despite this loss I'm proud of Iga for her attitude on court, she dealt well with having to play in conditions that were more suited to her opponent. She corrected the mistakes in the 2nd set and got it into a 3rd.
Maybe got a bit impatient and overhit in the final set but it's understandable with how well Svitolina was retrieving that coupled with the fact she's probably used to sleeping at the time they were playing and patient point construction went out the window.
She still tried and fought.
It doesn't take away from how well she was playing this tournament, finally broke the quarterfinal and top 10 loss curse. It's the best she has played in months.
Positives all around in that respect.
Feeling real encouraged for Roland Garros with this run in Rome.
Sure there may still be some work to do but this is a huge step forward. It's hard to get that confidence and self assuredness when you haven't been at the tail end of tournaments for a while.
She's still lacking the clutch factor on big points so not quite back to her old self just yet.
But it was very clear here in Rome that if there's a chance of getting that back for Iga it's on the clay.
Part of me will always think what could have been had they played in the day with the sun out instead.
Because I knew Svitolina would be tough either way, but things swung in her favor even more as soon as it became a night session.
The first game of the 3rd set where Iga had break points and didn't take them decided the match.
Regardless it was a great run and I hope Iga is proud and keeps her head high.
All that training is definitely paying off.
On to Paris we go.
Jazda!
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