Iga Swiatek comes back from brink of defeat to reach round of 16 at China Open

Iga Swiatek had won all four of her previous meetings with Donna Vekic, dropping just one set. But in their China Open third-round match Monday in Beijing, No. 30 seed Vekic appeared poised to end that run after taking a 6-4, 5-2 lead.

Swiatek, the 2023 champion, refused to let the match slip away. She broke Vekic twice to level the second set at 5-5, then won the tiebreak without losing a point to force a decider.

After the players exchanged breaks to open the third set, Swiatek broke again for a 3-2 lead and closed out a 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2 victory in 2 hours, 40 minutes.

"For sure I was in a bad position score-wise, didn't really know after the first set what to change to play better," Swiatek told the media after the win. "Later on in the second set I was playing more brave and more aggressive, changing more down the line. At the end I think it's what changed the rhythm of the match.

"I don't know how many points we both had, but I felt like I'm playing good. I felt like we might be even, but maybe she was winning the more important points. I knew I had my opportunities; I should push a little bit more. I just needed to go level up because she played really good, used these chances that I didn't use in the first set."

For Vekic, the loss marked her third defeat to a top-10 player in 2026, having previously lost to Mirra Andreeva at the Australian Open and Jessica Pegulaat Indian Wells.

Swiatek is through to the round of 16 at a WTA 1000 event for the 40th time in her career and will be bidding to win her 13th title at this level.

It was also Swiatek's 147th win at WTA 1000 events. Only Serena Williams, with 148, and Aryna Sabalenka, with 156, have more.

She moves on to face No. 10 seed Iva Jovic next. The American defeated Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 7-5 in another third-round battle on Monday.

wtatennis.com

Another tournament another wild rollercoaster from Iga. I'll admit at 5/2 down I had my finger on the power button of my tv and honestly considered turning it off. 

I honestly didn't think she had a chance at a comeback the way the first 2 sets went.

She couldn't make any headway on return in Vekic's service games and only had one break point all match which she didn't take. So I pretty much deemed it a lost cause. 

But Iga had other ideas. 

She said in her post match interview that she was really pissed, because she didn't think she was playing that badly. 

And to be fair in the fist set she really wasn't she just had one bad service game.

Maybe she should get pissed more often because it really worked :D. 

At 5/2 30 love on Vekic serve she became a different player. 

Probably a combination of having nothing to lose at that point and just wanting to try something different. 

She upped her aggression and suddenly all her returns started going it. 

I think even Vekic was surprised with how quickly the momentum changed and all of a sudden it was her feeling all the pressure on serve and failing to hold. 

And that tiebreak was something else. 

Just when you think Iga has accomplished everything  in her career she adds something new. 

For the first time she won a breaker without losing a point. 

It was pretty impressive to watch. 

It's like Iga just let go of all the stress and played with abandon. 

Safe to say everyone wishes she could do that more often but it's easier said than done.

I do hope she takes a lot of confidence for the next match facing a young American Iva Jovic for the fist time. 

This tournament has already been wild with both Sabalenka and new world #1 Rybakina going out early on back to back days.

So no idea what to expect but I'm excited to see it.

Jazda!.

40 - Since 1990, only four players have reached 40 Tier I/WTA-1000 rounds of 16 in fewer main draws than Iga Swiatek (49) – Martina Hingis (43), Lindsay Davenport (45), Conchita Martinez and Serena Williams (46 each). Rise.

For the first time in her LIFE, Iga Świątek wins a tiebreak 7-0. That considers European juniors, ITF juniors, ITF Tour, WTA Tour, and 145 total tiebreaks played.

Iga Swiatek back to winning ways at China Open

 

Former champion and No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek opened her campaign for a second China Open title with a straight-sets win over local wild card Xinyu Gao in the second round in Beijing on Saturday.

Swiatek, who won the title here in 2023, exchanged an early break of serve with the 244th-ranked Chinese player before gaining a two-break advantage to claim the first set 6-2. The Polish star, ranked No. 9, broke twice again in the second set to close out a 6-2, 6-3 win in 1 hour, 27 minutes.

"For sure, it was a solid match," Swiatek said after her win. "Many long rallies. I'm happy about that because I had a chance to get the rhythm of the court, feel the ball. For sure a good start. I'm happy to be back here."

Here are some key numbers from Swiatek's latest win:

5: The number of break points Swiatek converted in the match from eight opportunities. Gao earned only one break point and converted it.

6: This was Swiatek's sixth opening-match win in seven WTA 1000 events this season. Her only opening-round loss at a WTA 1000 event this year came in Miami, where she fell to compatriot Magda Linette

.6: This was Swiatek's sixth win in seven matches against opponents ranked outside the Top 100. Her only loss came to No. 121-ranked Zheng Qinwen in the fourth round of the US Open.

9: Swiatek has captured nine wins from her first 10 matches at this tournament. That is the most of any player, tying her with Coco Gauff and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

146: This was Swiatek's 146th career main-draw match win at WTA 1000-level events. Only two currently active players have more career main-draw match-wins at the WTA 1000 level -- Aryna Sabalenka (156) and Serena Williams (148).

4: Swiatek holds a 4-0 record against her next opponent, No. 30 seed Donna Vekic. Vekic defeated another Chinese wild card, Lin Zhu, 6-4, 6-2 to book her place in the third round. Three of Swiatek's four wins over Vekic have come in straight sets. This will be their fourth meeting on hard courts.

Swiatek added that qualifying for the season-ending WTA Finals remains a big goal for her in the coming weeks

"For sure that's the goal. I'm going to be fighting for that. Obviously I'm aware. But it doesn't change the fact that it still feels pretty far as there are many tournaments where you can gain many points.

"I try to just take it step by step because if I'm focused only on the next match, this is where I perform my best. I've never been in this position, so for sure it's another experience in my career."

 

wtatennis.com    

Good first match, played with depth and margin on the groundstrokes. 

She was building pints with high percentage tennis.  

Even her serve was sold. 

Nothing but positives  for a first match back after a tough U.S. Open loss.

9 - Iga Swiatek has claimed nine wins from her first 10 matches at the China Open, the most of any player at this event - level with Coco Gauff and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Victory.