World No.1 Iga Swiatek optimistic for French Open despite Rome injury

A day after Iga Swiatek's retirement from the Rome quarterfinals with a right thigh injury, the world's top-ranking player offered a hopeful prognosis.

Taking to Twitter, Swiatek wrote, "A couple of days off for sure. And booking my flight to Paris, so...fingers crossed, please! Hopefully, see you soon."

Before the injury, Swiatek was on a 14-match winning streak at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. On Wednesday against Elena Rybakina, Swiatek pulled out with the match tied at two games apiece in the third set. She initially sustained the injury in the second-set tiebreak and called for a medical timeout.

Despite her efforts to carry on, Swiatek eventually had to make the decision to cut the match short.

Swiatek, a three-time major champion and the reigning Roland Garros champion, has held her position as the top-ranked player for 59 consecutive weeks.

The French Open begins May 28 in Paris.

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Iga Swiatek retires in Rome Quarter-finals due to right thigh injury

 

 This black outfit is on point!

ROME -- No.6 Elena Rybakina advanced to the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia after two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek was forced to retire with a right thigh injury. The reigning Wimbledon champion advanced to her first WTA 1000 semifinal on clay after Swiatek retired at 2-6, 7-6(3), 2-2.

Rybakina will face No.20 Jelena Ostapenko in the semifinals on Friday.

With wins over Swiatek at the Australian Open and Indian Wells earlier this year, Rybakina is now 3-2 against reigning World No.1s in her career. The 23-year-old is into her third WTA 1000 semifinal of the season.

Swiatek's retirement ends her 14-match win streak at the Foro Italico. She had won the titles the past two years.

Story of the match: In the fourth installment of the rivalry between the reigning Roland Garros champion and Wimbledon champion, Swiatek's clay-court prowess was on full display early as she looked to level their head-to-head record to 2-2. Rybakina had yet to drop a set in Rome and was bidding to advance to her third WTA 1000 semifinal of the season and first of her career on clay.

Facing the player who accounted for two of her five losses this season, Swiatek was the picture of focus and intensity from the first game. Not even a humorous interruption in the first game could put the two-time French Open champion off. With a flurry of return winners, Swiatek broke Rybakina in her opening service game and repeated the feat two games later to open a double-break lead at 3-0.

Rybakina would finally get on the board at 4-1, but the Indian Wells champion struggled to do damage with her serve and forehand. Swiatek deftly absorbed Rybakina's pace and drew errors, while out-striking her opponent as well. Behind 11 winners to just five unforced errors, Swiatek sealed a dominant opening set in 44 minutes.

Swiatek carried her momentum into the early stages of the second set. She broke Rybakina immediately and would build a 3-1 lead.

Turning point: Rybakina would have to wait until 6-2, 4-3 before she saw her first break point chance of the match. Down 15-30, Swiatek fired a forehand wide to give Rybakina two chances to get back on serve. She needed just one, as Swiatek landed another driven forehand wide to even the set at 4-4. Rybakina carried that resilience into her next service game, where she wiped out three break points from 15-40 down and hold to 5-4.

In the tiebreak, Rybakina showed why she has lost just one tiebreak this season. The Kazakh played it perfectly to move that record to 9-1 and take the match into a third set after two hours of play.

Injury concern for Swiatek: On the penultimate point of the second-set tiebreak, Swiatek came out of a slide wincing. She took a medical timeout during the set break and returned with strapping around her upper right leg.

When play resumed, Swiatek gamely tested her movement for four games. After Rybakina held serve to 2-2, Swiatek walked to the net to shake hands, ending the 2-hour and 20-minute duel.

"I saw something happen in the tiebreak, on almost the last point but I didn't know how serious it is," Rybakina said. "I saw that the first two games she started really aggressive so I understood that she couldn't really move that much. but she was still making good returns and I knew that I had to be focused. I know myself that if anything is hurting you're trying to go for it and a lot of times it works. So she probably did the same, but after, I guess it was too much."

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I have so many feeling right now, and none of them good :(  

It was going so perfectly Iga was in finals mode in that first set. It was absolutely magical tennis from the undisputed World #1. 

I just can't help thinking what would have happened had she not lost that break in the 2nd set (at 4-3 I think) and the set hadn't gone into a tiebreak would this injury still have happened?. 

It honestly hurts either way. 

This was the best Iga played this tournament, the level was just off the charts fantastic. I'm starting to think Rybakina is some kind of jinx for Iga every time they play she's either injured or sick. 

This is only the 2nd time in her career in 5 years that Iga has retired from a match. Which in itself is extraordinary. 

I guess it was bound to happen with how much tennis she has played since coming back from the rib injury a month ago. Playing back to back tournaments in Madrid and Rome. 

It's also why I'm not a fan of the new 12 day format for Masters 1000 events. 

The match scheduling is even worse than before. 

No one should have to play any kind of sport after midnight (which is what Iga was doing today for the 3rd time in almost as many weeks). 

Playing in the rain in cold conditions it's like asking your star players to get injured. Ridiculous. This needs to be changed. 

We've been blessed all this time with Iga having minor injuries. 

I am still hoping and praying that whatever the injury is it's just a muscle strain, and that she pulled out as a precautionary measure before Roland Garros. 

We'll know for sure tomorrow once Iga gets some tests to see the seriousness of the injury. I don't even want to fathom Roland Garros without Iga in it. 

Rafa Nadal is also making an announcement the same day regarding his participation in this year's 2nd Slam.  

If we lose Rafa and Iga in one breath tomorrow, I will cry. 

Staying positive till we know something more definite, until then wishing Iga the speediest of recoveries. Stay strong, Jazda!

Needless to say I no longer care about the result for the women in Rome since I'm not a fan of any of the players remaining. 

Have a hunch it might be Jelena Ostapenko.

Iga Swiatek into Rome quarterfinals for the 3rd straight year

 

No.1 seed Iga Swiatek shrugged off an overnight rain delay to reach her third straight Internazionali BNL d'Italia quarterfinal, defeating No.21 seed Donna Vekic 6-3, 6-4 to set up a marquee last-eight meeting with Elena Rybakina.

Two-time defending champion Swiatek has now won 14 straight matches and 24 consecutive sets at the Foro Italico. The last player to win a set from her in Rome was Barbora Krejcikova in the 2021 third round, and the only player to have defeated her at this tournament was Arantxa Rus in the 2020 first round.

Only five other players in the Open Era have won 14 or more consecutive matches in Rome. Swiatek follows in the footsteps of Chris Evert, Conchita Martínez, Gabriela Sabatini, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams.

Swiatek improved to 4-0 against Vekic overall. This was their first clay-court encounter. The Croat has won a set only once, in the 2022 San Diego final. This time, Vekic managed to keep matters tight, becoming the first player this tournament to break the Swiatek serve in the first set.

No.24-ranked Vekic sealed that break with a fine drop shot, a tactic that was successful on five out the six occasions she deployed it. But that was the only break point she was able to convert out of seven opportunities. By contrast, Swiatek took all three of her break opportunities on the Vekic serve and found 19 winners compared to her opponent's 14.

Swiatek, Rybakina to resume rivalry: The Roland Garros champion and the reigning Wimbledon champion square off for the fourth time -- and third time this season.

Though Swiatek won their first meeting in the 2021 Ostrava quarterfinals, Rybakina has won both of their 2023 encounters without dropping a set -- indeed, for the loss of just 12 games in total. She knocked Swiatek out of the Australian Open 6-4, 6-4 in the fourth round, then ended the Pole's Indian Wells title defense 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals.

This will be their first pro clay-court meeting, but they have played on the surface once at junior level, also in Italy. Rybakina won the 2017 Milan Grade A final 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.

Swiatek's primary memory from that match wasn't focused on the tennis or the result.

"It was [my] first match that was streamed live on the internet," she said. "It really stressed me out. Rookie mistake. But I was really happy to be in the final. It was like I started to believe more a little bit in myself."

Both players played down the significance of their history. Swiatek said that she saw herself neither as the underdog nor the favorite.

"I would say for now I don't have any mindset," she told press after defeating Vekic. "I would say it's kind of neutral. I just want to treat this match as any other one. Coming back to my previous matches against Elena, it doesn't make sense. It was on hard court. I know how I felt. This time I don't have any expectations. I'm just going to come out and play the best game possible."

Rybakina is aware that Rome, more than any other venue on tour, is Swiatek's territory. After her fourth-round defeat of Marketa Vondrousova, she also lowered expectations.

"I think [clay] changes it a lot," she said. "It's more rallies, it's more physical, she has more time, I have more time. I think it's much different than the hard courts for sure.

"I'm not expecting much. For me, it's a practice. I'm taking it this way. Hopefully, it will help me perform at the French Open."

Nonetheless, Rybakina acknowledged the frisson around what is becoming one of the sport's most significant young rivalries.

"I'm not thinking about it so much, but of course I see some comments," she said. "It's good if [fans] think that way and that it's entertaining to see us play against each other. It's a good thing."

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Well the match I've been sort of looking forward to but also dreading has arrived. 

A third meeting with Rybakina. But this time on Iga's favourite surface. I have never wanted a player to avenge a loss more than I want Iga to defeat Rybakina. 

Just to prove to herself that 1 you may have beaten me on hard court twice but I'm still the best on clay and 2 so she doesn't allow Rybakina to get in her head with 3 losses in one season. 

Because Rybakina has been vulnerable this year and definitely when it comes to clay. 

First set will be absolutely crucial given Iga has won 25 matches this year when taking the first set. 

Also serve and forehand will have to be on point to put pressure on Rybakina. And if all else fails take chances on return and defend. 

Don't know if playing at night will be beneficial or not. Although I suppose slower conditions might make the Rybakina serve less effective and give Iga more time on returns.

I'm also hoping that not having a day off due to weather (unlike Rybakina) will keep Iga in a nice match rhythm. Not having a lot of time to think about a match could be a good thing too. 

Most important is that it doesn't rain, there has been way to much rain in Rome this year, I would like at least one night match not interrupted due to weather. 

I'm really nervous about tomorrow, but also have a good feeling, I have faith that on clay (more than any other surface) Iga will find solutions even if things don't start out well. 

Jazda Iga you've got this!

Iga Swiatek wins 12 consecutive games to reach round of 16 in Rome

ROME -- World No.1 Iga Swiatek eased into the Round of 16 at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia after defeating Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-0 in the third round on Sunday. The two-time defending champion will face No.21 Donna Vekic next.

Facing Tsurenko for the second time in their careers, Swiatek quickly wiped out any hopes of an upset by the World No.68. Coming off wins over Elina Svitolina and Bernarda Pera to make her first third-round appearance in Rome, Tsurenko broke Swiatek's serve immediately and led 2-0.

Swiatek responded emphatically. The two-time Roland Garros champion dialed in her game and found her margins to reel off 12 consecutive games to win her 27th match of the season and extend her 2023 record on clay to 11-1.

"After a pretty rusty start, I was able to break back pretty quickly, so I'm happy that I played solid game," Swiatek said. "Just have another experience playing on center court, and I'm happy that it wasn't raining."

Breaking down the numbers behind Swiatek's dominant first week in Rome:

13: Consecutive wins for two-time defending champion Swiatek in Rome. This is the longest win streak in Rome since Serena Williams posted 21 consecutive wins from 2012 to 2019.

6: Women to win 13 or more consecutive matches in Rome. Swiatek joins Chris Evert, Conchita Martinez, Gabriela Sabatini, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams.

4: Women to win 13 of their first 14 matches in Rome. Swiatek joins the list alongside Monica Seles, Gabriela Sabatini and Chris Evert.

2: Games lost by Swiatek en route to the Round of 16. She won her opener 6-0, 6-0 against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

12: Consecutive games won by Swiatek in both her matches this week in Rome. Against Tsurenko, Swiatek was down 2-0 in the first set before winning every remaining game.

2: Career meetings between Swiatek and Tsurenko. Their first came at Roland Garros last year. Swiatek won that match by the same scoreline, 6-2, 6-0, in just 54 minutes.

22: Winners truck by Swiatek against Tsurenko, while holding Tsurenko to just 2 winners on the day.

6: Breaks of serve by Swiatek against Tsurenko. She generated 10 break points in total.

1: Break point faced by Swiatek in the match. Tsurenko converted it in the first game of the first set.

10: Number of 6-0 sets Swiatek has posted in 2023, the most on tour.

0: Number of losses Swiatek has against her Round of 16 opponent. She is 3-0 against Donna Vekic, with their last match coming in the final of San Diego last fall. Vekic advanced with a comeback win over Liudmila Samsonova, winning 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-2.

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Next up Vekic could be a little tricky and with an extra day to rest due to rain could be a lot more competitive than expected. 

But hoping for another straight sets win. 

Quarter-final is when the real challenges will start. Rybakina has beaten her twice this year. Hopefully Iga can turn the tables and show what she's made of on her best surface. 

Than it's either Badosa/Muchova or Ostapenko in the semis. 

Ostapenko she's 0-3 against won't lie and say her unpredictability makes me very nervous. Muchova's variety dropshots, and coming to the net as well. 

But taking it one match at a time. 

Jazda!.

 

Iga Swiatek sweeps through Rome opener without losing a game

ROME -- World No.1 Iga Swiatek kicked off her title defense at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round on Friday. Swiatek will face either Bernarda Pera or Lesia Tsurenko in the third round.


A two-time defending champion in Rome, Swiatek extended her win streak in the Eternal City to 12 consecutive matches. She is the sixth woman in the Open Era to win 12 or more consecutive matches in Rome, joining Chris Evert, Conchita Martinez, Gabriela Sabatini, Maria Sharapova, and Serena Williams.

Including her 6-0, 6-0 win over Karolina Pliskova in the 2021 final, Swiatek has now posted two perfect scorelines in Rome. Along with Chris Evert, she is just the second player to have multiple 6-0, 6-0 wins in Rome. Since the introduction of the WTA-1000 level in 2009, only Simona Halep has posted more 6-0 sets at this level (7) than Swiatek (6).

"When I'm playing these kind of matches, I'm just trying to be focused," Swiatek said. "It's actually pretty hard to be focused when you are really thinking [about the score]. So I'm trying to remember what got me this nice score, what I should do to continue playing that well. I just want to be consistent in it.

"In my opinion, the score doesn't really matter and it doesn't have any influence on my feeling on the court. I'm just trying to play my best tennis no matter what the score is."

How the match was won: In the first-time meeting between Swiatek and Pavlyuchenkova, Swiatek managed the windy conditions at the Foro Italico to ease herself to the win. Pavlyuchenkova earned her spot in the second round after posting just her second main-draw singles win of an injury-addled season, defeating Sara Errani 6-1, 6-1 in the first round.

Swiatek utilized her kick-serve well to keep Pavlyuchenkova at bay on her own service games. Pavlyuchenkova, herself a Roland Garros finalist in 2021, played a tactically smart match but struggled to consistently land her finishing shots. Her one break point in the match came at 4-0 in the opening set. Pavlyuchenkova did well to open up space for a forehand down the line but fired it long. Swiatek went on to hold.

Down 5-0, Pavlyuchenkova gamely saved six set points from 0-40 down on her serve, but the World No.1's relentless return game finally broke through to seal her tour-leading ninth 6-0 set of the season.

Swiatek's ruthless march continued in the second set, as she ran the table to close out the win after 67 minutes.

Match stats: Swiatek's clean performance was clearly reflected in the post-match numbers. She hit 19 winners to just nine unforced errors in the match. She generated 11 break-point chances and converted six of them, while saving the one break point she faced on her serve. Pavlyuchenkova finished with seven winners to 19 unforced errors. in total, Swiatek won 57 points to Pavlyuchenkova's 29.

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Iga Swiatek gets tough draw at Italian Open as defending champion

The clay-court WTA 1000 events continue on the Hologic WTA Tour with next week's Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. The 96-player main draw was released on Sunday, with 18 of the world's Top 20 players vying for the title.

Main-draw action in the Italian capital will kick off on Tuesday and span 12 days for the first time. The singles and doubles finals will take place on Saturday, May 20.

First quarter


Two-time defending champion and World No.1 Iga Swiatek sits at the top of the draw. Swiatek took the Rome title for the first time in 2021, when she beat Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 in the final. Swiatek collected her second straight title last year by beating Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2.

After her bye (all 32 seeded players receive first-round byes), Swiatek is guaranteed to meet a former Roland Garros finalist in the second round: either 2014 Rome finalist Sara Errani or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who is on the comeback trail after missing much of last year with an injury.

Swiatek could meet reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals if seedings hold. Before that, No.7 seed Rybakina could potentially face No.9 seed Maria Sakkari in the Round of 16 in a battle between Top 10 players.

Among the other players in this quarter are 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and two athletes coming back from maternity leave, Barbora Strycova and Elina Svitolina. Svitolina won back-to-back Rome titles in 2017 and 2018.

Second quarter


Last year's runner-up Ons Jabeur tops the second quarter as the No.4 seed, aiming to play her first clay-court WTA 1000 event of the season. Jabeur withdrew from last week's Mutua Madrid Open, where she was the defending champion with a calf injury.

If Jabeur comes back in Madrid, she could meet an extremely dangerous floater in her second-round match after her bye in former World No.2 Paula Badosa. Unseeded Badosa will take on a qualifier in the opening round for the chance to play Jabeur.

No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina resides at the bottom of this quarter and will play an Italian wild card in the second round, either Diletta Cherubini or Lisa Pigato. No.10 seed Barbora Krejcikova is a potential Round of 16 opponent for Kasatkina.

Fourth quarter


No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka brings momentum into the bottom quarter after winning her second Madrid title in the last three years on Saturday. Sabalenka toppled Swiatek on clay for the first time in four attempts to win the WTA 1000 title in Spain.

Reigning Australian Open champion Sabalenka might face a fellow major winner in the second round after her bye, if 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin can get past Cristina Bucsa in the first round.

Another former Australian Open champion, Victoria Azarenka, might await Sabalenka in the Round of 16 if seedings hold. The 2016 Rome finalist and No.19 seed Madison Keys also resides in this section.

No.5 seed Caroline Garcia sits at the other end of this quarter, and she might face Madrid quarterfinalist Petra Martic in the third round and No.12 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the Round of 16.

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Champions Reel: Iga Swiatek Rome title defence

 

Iga Swiatek successfully defends Rome wins 5th consecutive title of the season!

ROME, Italy -- World No.1 Iga Swiatek won her fifth consecutive Hologic WTA Tour title on Sunday, defeating No.7 Ons Jabeur, 6-2, 6-2 to win the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The 20-year-old Polish star successfully defended her title in Rome and extended her winning streak to 28 consecutive matches.


The victory snapped Jabeur's 11-match winning streak, which began with the Tunisian's title run at the Mutua Madrid Open.

"At the beginning of the tournament, I didn't know it would be possible to keep up the streak and with all the wins," Swiatek said. "I'm pretty happy I did it really step by step and I just focused on the right things because I think it led to all the success this week.

"Yeah, for sure it was a long path for me since the beginning, but I'm really proud of myself and my team."

Swiatek is just the second player to ever win four or more WTA 1000 titles in a single season, after Serena Williams won five in 2013. Swiatek has won every WTA 1000 she has contested this season, winning Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and now Rome. She currently holds five of the last nine WTA 1000 titles.

Swiatek won the first WTA 1000 title of her career last year in Rome. She is the ninth player to win back-to-back titles in Rome and the third-youngest player to capture two titles in Rome, older only than Chris Evert and Gabriela Sabatini.

Coming into Sunday's final, Swiatek was looking to level up her head-to-head against Jabeur, who had won their last two meetings. It did not take long for the World No.1 to put her stamp on the match. Swiatek broke Jabeur early to build a quick 3-0 lead and never relinquished control of the match.

Jabeur found herself with two small openings to break the Swiatek serve, but the Pole slammed the door each time. Serving at 4-2 in the first set, a pair of errors put Swiatek into a 0-30 deficit, which she quickly alleviated to hold. Then, in her opening service game of the second set, Swiatek wiped out the first break point she faced in the match.

Jabeur would snap Swiatek's six-game run with her first break of serve in the match at 4-1 in the second set. Buoyed by the break, Jabeur earned her best chance to flip the match in the 4-2 game. In the best game of the match, Swiatek survived a 0-40 deficit to save four break points and keep Jabeur at bay. The World No.1 outmaneuvered Jabeur in a series of rousing cat-and-mouse rallies before closing out the game with a big first serve.

"Coming back from this Love-40 game in the second set was emotionally also tough," Swiatek said. "It was hard for me to switch the modes to be more focused and play the same kind of tennis I played before.

"I felt relief for sure because the second set, it got to a really physical game. At the end, I was just pretty tired. I'm just really happy that I could cope with all the pressure and expectations so well."

Swiatek is now 8-1 in WTA finals and has run off 16 consecutive sets in finals. She has not lost more than five games in a final since losing the first WTA final she ever contested at 2019 Lugano (l. Polona Hercog).

Having swept the titles in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, and Rome, Swiatek is now the fourth player in the 2000s to win five or more consecutive tournaments. She joins a vaunted list that includes Venus Williams in 2000, Justine Henin in 2007-2008 and Serena Williams in 2013.

"It's pretty hard to describe it 'cause all these tournaments that I've won seem pretty surreal right now," Swiatek said. "I feel like just continuing the same things that I did before really was the key to that. It's pretty weird because you may think every tournament, that it takes something more. But I'm pretty happy with my solid game. I was able to just play good and also improve during the tournament."

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I've said this before I am running out of superlatives when it comes to Iga Swiatek. 

I may have to resort to the dictionary!. 

I think I recall saying something about Iga flipping a switch when it comes to finals and finding her highest level when she needs it. 

Well today she flipped that switch again, and it was glorious. Started fast by breaking quickly as always barely allowing her opponent room to breathe. 

She did show she was human right at the of the match. But showed amazing grit at 4/2 40 love down. 

Showed a defense only champions come up with under such incredible pressure. It was magnificent. I will be playing that on replay for a while. 

The moment when she dropped to her knees and started to sob in relief was so beautiful. I admit I got very teary eyed. 

It showed how much this meant to her, and even though she makes it look so easy, how much mental and physical strength it takes to not crumble under the weight of expectation. 

With all these incredible records on the line to boot. 

A 4th consecutive Masters 1000 title (5th over all for the season), a 28 consecutive win. Another tournament without dropping a single set. 31-0 when winning the first set. 36 or is it 37th victory of the season which is not even at the halfway point yet!.  

She's going into Roland Garros next having accumulated all that so...... good luck everyone else! :D. 

Enjoy that Tiramisu Iga, hope you get a kilos worth! :D. See you next week at Roland Garros.

Let's keep this train going, Jazda!. 

Defending champion Iga Swiatek back in the finals of Rome, faces Jabeur for title

ROME, Italy -- World No.1 Iga Swiatek advanced to her fifth consecutive Hologic WTA Tour final on Saturday, defeating No.8 Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Seeking her eighth career title, the 20-year-old Polish star will face either Ons Jabeur or Daria Kasatkina in Sunday's final.


Swiatek has now won 40 of her past 41 sets and the victory extended her winning streak to 27 matches, the fourth longest of the century. Serena Williams won 27 consecutive matches from the 2014 WTA Finals through 2015 Madrid.

With wins in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami, Swiatek is the first player since Simona Halep in 2017 to make four WTA 1000 finals in a single season. Swiatek has lost just 17 games en route to the Rome final. In the past 25 years at the Foro Italico, only Williams (10), Kim Clijsters (13) and Martina Hingis (15) have lost fewer.

"At these tournaments where we play day after day, we don't really get time to celebrate," Swiatek said. "Right after we finish the previous match, we have to think about the next one. It's pretty tough. But I know that after I'm going to be really proud of myself. For sure I'm going to have time to think about what I did.

"But, yeah, I mean, I'm just constantly surprising myself that I can do better and better. I feel like I actually can believe now that the sky's the limit. That's the fun part, for sure."

Swiatek lost her first meeting against Sabalenka last fall at the WTA Finals but has bounced back to win their next three. The Pole posted straight-set victories over Sabalenka on her way to two of her four titles this season, first in the semifinals of Doha and then in the final of Stuttgart.

Under the beaming sun on Court Centrale, Swiatek put in her best performance of the week to suffocate Sabalenka from the baseline. Swiatek set the tone by breaking Sabalenka in her first two service games to build a 3-1 lead.

Swiatek kept her targets big and consistently tested Sabalenka's rally tolerance. In the end, Sabalenka misfired on 16 unforced errors in the opening set, while striking just three winners. Swiatek, who kept a clean sheet with five winners to six unforced errors, pocketed the opening set in just 31 minutes.

Swiatek jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Sabalenka snapped her run of seven games to hold. Down 4-1, Sabalenka received a medical timeout during the changeover. Swiatek held on the resumption and closed out the win by breaking Sabalenka for the sixth time on the day. Swiatek finished the match with 15 winners and 15 unforced errors. Sabalenka hit eight winners to 31 unforced errors.

"I'm pretty happy that I learned the lessons on previous matches," Swiatek said. "On previous matches, I felt like I'm kind of letting my opponents come back to the match a little bit. This time I wanted to put pressure on my opponent from the beginning till the end. I think Aryna was under pressure, so it really helped me and that was my tactics."

Swiatek is now 30-0 at WTA 1000s when she wins the first set. She is 6-1 in 2022 against Top 10 opponents, having won six straight. Her sole loss came to former No.1 Ashleigh Barty in the Adelaide semifinals.


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Well, that was a lot more lopsided than I was expecting. The way Sabalenka was talking I really thought she would come in with a real plan to beat Iga. 

But it turned out to be Madrid and Stuttgart all over again. I'll admit I didn't watch any of Sabalenka's matches in Rome, but from everything I heard and read as well as score wise she was playing really well. So this performance was disappointingly surprising. 

Starting to think Sabalenka is developing a bit an Iga Swiatek problem as in she has really gotten into her head (not that I can blame her) most the players on tour can't seem to solve Iga's game either right now. 

That's not to say that Iga wasn't brilliant because she was, as I said in my post a day prior Iga isn't intimidated or bullied by Sabalenka's power she just absorbs it and turns it around on Sabalenka. And pretty much sufficates her with the return of serve (as she has been doing with all of her opponent this year). 

Iga will next face an opponent who has been equally impressive on tour in terms of wins this year last week's Madrid Open Champion Ons Jabeur  who Iga last faced in 2021 and has 2 wins against her on hard court and grass. 

Ons isn't like any other player out there she doesn't just use power (though she has plenty of it at her disposal), but it's the variety, change is speed, slices and of course the world famous drop shot which she can hit from seemingly anywhere that is uniquely unmatched and gives her opponents plenty of headaches. 

This will definitely not be a Karolina Pliskova scenario of last year where Iga served her a double bagel. 

Jabeur'ss variety will be tough to deal with and not get frustrated by. A completely different challenge to anyone Iga has faced this tournament. 

For a while it looked like Kasatkina would be Iga's next opponent but Jabeur saved match points and won in 3 sets. 

At first I thought facing Kasatkina would be easier for Iga given they've played 3 times this year and Iga has won all 3 so it would be great confidence wise. 

But they've never played on clay where Kasatkina's variety shines as well and would undoubtedly have been a frustrating foe as well. 

So the scenario looks as follows: Ons Jabeur the Madrid Champion vs Rome defending Champion a 27 match win streak vs an 11 match win streak 21 matches won when winning the first set vs 30 . Iga's is going for her 4th consecutive WTA 1000's title (5th this season) vs Ons 2nd. 

This final is going to be the equivalent of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. And since there can only be one winner something will have to give.  

And on paper Iga has the advantage having spent less time on court and also proving that she has no problem with long grueling matches (as she showed in her 3 hour battle with Samsonova in Stuttgart).  

Jabeur's variety and drop shot although the best in world world can break down on her when she over uses it in stressful situations. 

Then there's the concentration factor Iga has shown incredible mental prowess all year and being pretty ruthless in terms of not letting go of a lead once she grabs it. 

Jabeur on the other hand still has a tendency to lose her concentration in sets allowing her opponents back in. 

Iga will also be trying to achieve something she has not yet succeeded at in her young career, defend a title she won a year prior. 

She will have to serve well as Jabeur is a talented returner herself. Iga does have the fascinating ability to play her highest level in finals. It's like a switch that flips on and brings out her best.

Iga has also not lost a set where as Jabaur had to battle in her last 2 to get where she is. 

Both have shown great fight when losing a set and both have impressive records in 3 setters. If both players play well this final could turn into a classic & a physical and mental battle of wills. 

And I am beyond excited for it.  

Jazda Iga show everyone once again exactly why your #1 ranking was thoroughly deserved. 

Iga Swiatek triumphs over Andreescu to keep Rome title defence alive faces Sablenka next

ROME, Italy -- No.1 seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 26 with a 7-6(2), 6-0 defeat of Bianca Andreescu in 1 hour and 44 minutes to reach the Internazionali BNL d'Italia semifinals.


Swiatek, 20, now owns the joint-fifth longest streak this century, matching the 26 consecutive wins with which Victoria Azarenka began 2012. Only Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Justine Henin have won more matches in a row since 2000.

"Being in that kind of group is like a dream come true for me," she said afterward. "I wouldn't think of that when I was younger. I'm pretty happy that I could do that because consistency was the thing I really wanted to work on last year. This year I feel like it clicked."

Swiatek has also won 38 of her past 39 sets dating back to the fourth round of Indian Wells, with the only dropped set coming to Liudmila Samsonova in the Stuttgart semifinals. The 2020 Roland Garros champion continued her pattern of excelling in the last eight. Swiatek has now won 12 of her 13 tour-level quarterfinals, with the only exception being her loss to Maria Sakkari at Roland Garros 2021.

It was the first pro meeting between two players who captured their first Grand Slams as teenagers within the past three years. Swiatek and Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, met only once, as juniors, with Swiatek winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in 2016 Junior Fed Cup action.

Match management: The opening set momentum shifted back and forth. Swiatek had the brighter start, firing a series of backhand winners to take a 2-0 lead. Andreescu hit back with three games on the trot to edge in front, 3-2. Swiatek responded with her own trio of games, slamming a forehand crosscourt to seal a 5-3 lead. Some strong returning from Andreescu pegged the World No.1 back to 5-5.

Fittingly, the opening act was decided by a tiebreak. Andreescu was rattled on the third point by an overrule in favour of Swiatek, who seized the last momentum shift and stayed on the front foot, sealing her first set point with a backhand one-two punch.

Swiatek on preparing to face Andreescu: "I wasn't really expecting anything because I didn't actually know how she's playing after the break. I watched many of her matches before she did that break. Right now I didn't know if her tennis is the same or it changed a little bit.

"But I knew that physically I can play longer rallies and also play longer matches. So basically I was ready for that. Also, I knew that she's going to change rhythm. She did that, which was pretty tricky. Just knowing that, I was just ready for it. Tactically I knew it about it, so I'm pretty happy that we prepared well."

Looking ahead: Swiatek leads the overall head-to-head with Sabalenka 2-1, including both of their meetings this year in the Doha quarterfinals and Stuttgart final. Across those two matches, Swiatek conceded only nine games.

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With this win the list of records for Iga in 2022: 

35 wins

26 in a row 20-0 in WTA1000s 38 of last 39 sets won 13 12 7 SF in 8 events 1000500 in a row 4740 race points 92.11% win rate 9 wins as no1 8 wins over GS champs 6 wins over former no1s

Well it wasn't a 3 set battle, but the first set was a real see-saw affair.  

The way Iga turned it on in the 2nd is just so on par with what she has been doing since February of this year. It's astonishing really. 

For a set Andreescu was able to hang with Iga and give as good as she got. Yet I also can't help but think Iga could have won the set more easily had she started out serving better. 

She had similar serving issues in Azarenka's match. But raised her percentage in the 2nd and thus won more easily.

She's playing well, but not quite firing on all cylinders yet if we compare it to her level before taking a break after Madrid. Yet somehow she's still able to win the match. 

I'm just imaging when she finally gets more comfortable on clay (as she herself said she's still finding her comfort level) how much better she'll be. And that's a scary thought. For her opponents that is.

Speaking of her opponent, Aryna Sabalenka will attempt to best Iga for the 3rd time this year (4th overall). 

Her last 2 attempts didn't go so well, but it looks like she's going into this one with a different mind set, a more calm playing strategy (and is playing better then she has since Aussie Open). 

Will the change in mind set be enough though?. 

That's what I'll be tuning in to see.

  

Sabalenka's power, or ground strokes won't scare Iga off as she has proven she can turn Sabelenka's power around in her favor with her speed and returning on the court. 

If Sabalenka has a really good serving day she does have the ability to hit anyone off the court. 

And with Iga's serving woes thus for in Rome it won't make life easy. But on the other hand given Iga's over all record in Master 1000 semi finals I'm confident Iga will find a way even if Sabalenka manages to make it really tough. 

Her ability to raise her level at this stage in each tournament has become a constant this year. So something tells me whatever level Sabalenka manages to find Iga will be there to match it. 

And I cannot wait to see it. 

Though I think this time I'm going to spare myself the stress and watch the match on reply around lunch time. 

The semi starts at 12 noon local time in Rome which is 6am for me. 

And I desperately need to catch up on my sleep before the start of Roland Garros in a week. 5am matches are a killer on my sleep cycle. 

Expecting more of a battle this time around, but rooting and hoping for the best. 

Jazda Iga keep that winning train rolling!. 

Iga Swiatek makes it 25 in a row, faces Andreescu in Rome quarters

ROME, Italy -- World No.1 Iga Swiatek survived a bruising test to overcome former No.1 Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The victory extended Swiatek's winning streak to 25 matches, the longest since Serena Williams ran off 27 straight wins in 2015. The victory sets up a marquee matchup Friday against 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.

While the score line appears perfunctory, Swiatek found herself under constant pressure from Azarenka's return game. The 20-year-old needed 79 minutes to complete a comeback from a double-break, at 0-3, in the opening set. Azarenka held at least one break point in each of Swiatek's service games in the opener, generating a total of 11 break points.

"I didn't start well, and everybody could see that," Swiatek told reporters. "I'm really happy with the way I reacted and how I improved in the first set. Also how different the second set looked to the first one because I could really reset and really change the way I played. That's the most positive thing for me."

But in the key game of the first set, Swiatek came through a seven-deuce game, wiping out three break chances, to hold for a 4-3 lead. That hold was a part of a five-game run for Swiatek, but Azarenka's fight never wavered. With Swiatek serving for the set at 5-3, the former No.1 wiped out four set points and broke to get back on serve.

Swiatek kept her cool. By now, the Pole had leveled up her tour-best return game, and she broke Azarenka on her fifth set point to finally seal the set. Swiatek continued to dominate on return through the second set, breaking Azarenka four more times to close the match and book her spot in a fifth straight quarterfinal.

Stat of the match: Under pressure throughout the lengthy opening set, Swiatek was forced to play 74 points on her serve. In contrast, Azarenka played just 30. But Swiatek's ability to save eight of 11 break points while converting four of the five break points she earned, flipped the script on an otherwise strong first set from Azarenka.

When the dust finally settled on Court Centrale, Swiatek won 12 of the last 14 games of the match. Swiatek finished with 34 winners to 39 unforced errors, while Azarenka fired 18 winners to 31 unforced errors.

wtattennis.com


Well this was definitely not the best Iga has played this year, let's get that out of the way. 

This was a hard fought 25th straight win.

Been a good few months since she has committed half as many unforced errors. I'm still trying to figure out how exactly she ended up winning this in straight sets. 

The first set was pretty much the definition of winning ugly. When you're not playing your best but you fight through till you find your level which is what happened in the 2nd set. 

Iga's next opponent is someone myself and many others thought she might never meet. Having been plagued with injuries and mental struggles the past few years. 

And yet here we are 3 years after her triumph at the U.S. Open Bianca Andreescu is back and playing well making it to the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 event in only her 2nd tournament back. 

To say I'm excited for their first meeting on the pro tour would be the understatement of the year (they have met once as juniors where Iga won).  

If both play at a high level we could be in for a real treat. 

Iga will definitely have to serve a lot better than today, because Andreescu will have those 2nd serves for breakfast.

This is one of those rare times where I find myself very conflicted as a fan. Having Polish roots, but living in Canada.  

I think I will be slightly less heart broken if she were to lose to a Canadian. I do enjoy watching Bianca Andreescu play equally as much. 

That having been said I'll stick with the country of my birth and cheer hard for Iga, 

I'm expecting a tough competitive 3 set battle, but I'm still going to give Iga a slight edge in the end. 

I have no idea what's gonna happen, but I haven't looked forward to a tennis match this much since Martina Hingis returned from one of her many retirements. 

Jazda Iga!.  Go for your 26th consecutive win.

Iga Swiatek win streak continues with first win in Rome

Make that 24. World No.1 Iga Swiatek's winning streak continued Wednesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

Returning to action for the first time in two-and-a-half weeks, Swiatek dropped serve twice in the opening set of her first round match against Elena-Gabriela Ruse, but it didn't matter much in the end: Breaking Ruse seven times in 12 opportunities, the top seed cruised to a 6-3, 6-0 win in just 68 minutes. She also hit 15 winners, five times the Romanian's total.

"I'm pretty proud I could get into the rhythm today, just take some lessons during the match and improve my game, game by game," Swiatek said in victory.

"That was pretty solid match for me ... I think she's playing really solid tennis. I could feel that today on my racquet, that she could really give back some strong hits."

Seeking a her fifth consecutive title of 2022 this week, Swiatek is also bidding to win Rome in back-to-back years. Standing between her and another quarterfinal berth is former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka.

Azarenka, the No.16 seed, eased to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Colombia's Camila Osorio earlier in the day Wednesday. Swiatek and Azarenka have split two previous meetings on hard courts, with Swiatek winning their quarterfinal match in Adelaide in January in three sets.

"I was actually talking with my coach, what's the difference between her game on hard court and clay. For sure we're going to analyze that. Tactically I'm going to be prepared," Swiatek said.

"I've never even had a chance to play a practice with her on clay, so I'm not sure how the game is going to look like ... She's such an experienced player that you have to be ready for variety. You have to be ready for facing a lot of variety in her game."

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Iga Swiatek rested and ready to start new chapter in Rome

World No.1 Iga Swiatek is refreshed and ready to defend her title and build on her winning streak at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.


ROME -- Twelve months ago, Iga Swiatek had yet to break into the Top 10 when she arrived at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Then, as has quickly become the signature of Swiatek's career, she burst through that barrier, winning her first WTA 1000 title by a 6-0, 6-0 win in the final.


A year on, the defending champion returns to the Eternal City as the clear-cut World No.1. After reeling off 23 straight wins and four consecutive titles, in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Stuttgart, the 2020 Roland Garros champion is rested and ready to attack her favorite surface.

"Last year I feel like I still was trying to find some consistency in the wins that I had, and also confirmation that Roland Garros wasn't just like a [one-off] tournament," Swiatek told reporters at Media Day in Rome. "I feel like I found that and I feel like I can move forward and just focus on my next goals.

"The tournaments that I played this year have shown me that I can play better tennis on hard courts. Right now the transition that I have to do to clay, it's pretty different because usually it was like, 'Whoa, clay, finally I can play well.' Right now it's a little bit different because I feel like my level was high anyway. It didn't strike me [the same] this year."

After withdrawing from the Mutua Madrid Open, Swiatek, 20, put the racquets down for five days before heading to the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca to put in a high-intensity training block on clay.

"It's pretty weird because I really rested, then they almost killed me on the practices," Swiatek said. "Hopefully it's going to give me more power and I'm going to be more ready to play well next tournaments."

The top seed in Rome, Swiatek has a bye into the second round and will face either Shelby Rogers or Alison Riske to open her tournament. A victory would extend her streak to 24 matches, which would be the longest streak since Serena Williams won 27 straight in 2015.

Swiatek, who had played non-stop since Dubai, said her two-week break from competition has allowed her to reflect and refresh.

"I feel like the chapter is a little bit closed," Swiatek said. "Still I'm coming back to [these] moments, which is maybe not good sometimes because you can get your expectations high. I'm working this season also not to look [back] on what happened - doesn't matter if it's good or bad - just looking forward. I think it's going to give me more freedom. My mind is going to be more clear."

If Swiatek's ears were burning while she was kicking up her feet, it's because she remained a topic of conversation among the player set in Madrid. From Naomi Osaka to Madrid champion Ons Jabeur, players went out of their way to celebrate Swiatek.

'She inspires us' - From Osaka to Jabeur, players celebrate Swiatek's surge

"That is probably one of the nicest things I experienced on tour, I would say," Swiatek said. "I saw what Coco was saying and Ons. I wasn't even hoping that players were going to talk about me that way because it's such a nice thing.

"Honestly, I'm pretty glad with just being myself and people are thinking that I'm nice and stuff. It's kind of sometimes overwhelming that they're looking up to me because honestly, two years ago, I was the one looking up to everybody. It's such a new position for me that I don't really know how to react.

"Hopefully I'm going to get used to it and, hopefully, I'm going to have a chance to show good work and good kind of examples."

wtatennis.com

Italian Open Draw Iga Swiatek as top seed

The Internazionali BNL d'Italia draw came out Friday with World No.1 Iga Swiatek headlining a field that features 19 of the top 20 players.


It will be the second consecutive Hologic WTA Tour 1000 event on the calendar, with main-draw action kicking off Monday.

Potential Round of 16 by seeding:

[1] Iga Swiatek vs. [16] Victoria Azarenka
[10] Emma Raducanu vs. [5] Anett Kontaveit
[3] Aryna Sabalenka vs. [13] Jessica Pegula
[12] Belinda Bencic vs. [7] Danielle Collins

[8] Garbiñe Muguruza vs. [9] Ons Jabeur
[15] Coco Gauff vs. [4] Maria Sakkari
[6] Karolina Pliskova vs. [11] Jelena Ostapenko
[14] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. [2] Paula Badosa

Defending champion Swiatek, like all of the Top 8 seeds, has an opening-round bye. In the second round, she will face the winner of an all-American match between Shelby Rogers and Alison Riske. Swiatek could face 2013 Rome runner-up Victoria Azarenka in the Round of 16.

Swiatek did not play the first WTA 1000 clay-court event of the season, withdrawing from this week's Mutua Madrid Open with a shoulder injury. But the Polish star is still undefeated at WTA 1000 events in 2022, winning titles in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami during her ascent to No.1.

The bottom portion of the first quarter is loaded with intriguing matchups. Two US Open champions will square off in the first round, as reigning US Open titlist Emma Raducanu will face 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in their first meeting.

Whoever prevails will take on the winner of the match between Sara Sorribes Tormo and another former US Open champion, Naomi Osaka. That opener is a rematch from Madrid, where Sorribes Tormo defeated Osaka en route to the quarterfinals.

The player who comes out of this section could meet No.5 seed Anett Kontaveit in the Round of 16.

No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka is scheduled to face Madrid finalist Jessica Pegula in the Round of 16, if seedings hold. Pegula will face big-hitting Liudmila Samsonova in the first round.

No.7 seed Danielle Collins and No.12 seed Belinda Bencic lurk in the bottom section of this quarter, as does Madrid quarterfinalist Amanda Anisimova.

2020 Rome champion Simona Halep, who has won nine singles titles on clay, is also in this portion. Halep will face Alizé Cornet in the first round in a 2022 Australian Open rematch.

Cornet knocked out Halep in Melbourne this year to make her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. The winner of this match will meet Collins in the second round.

No.4 seed Maria Sakkari and No.8 seed Garbiñe Muguruza are the highest seeds in the third quarter. Muguruza could potentially play No.9 seed and Madrid finalist Ons Jabeur in the Round of 16.

Sakkari has a tricky second-round match lined up against either former US Open champion Sloane Stephens or Ekaterina Alexandrova, who reached the Madrid semifinals this week.

The player who comes out of that section could face a Round of 16 tussle with either No.15 seed Coco Gauff or Angelique Kerber. Gauff and Kerber will face off in a notable opening-round match. Kerber won their lone prior meeting at Wimbledon last year.

No.2 seed Paula Badosa is the highest-ranked player in the last quarter of the draw. She could meet Veronika Kudermetova in the second round. Badosa just beat Kudermetova in the first round of Madrid.

A potential Round of 16 opponent for whoever comes out of that portion could be last year's Roland Garros runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or last year's US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, who will play each other in the first round.

No.6 seed Karolina Pliskova, who reached the last three Rome finals, winning the 2019 title, also features in the bottom quarter.

No.11 seed Jelena Ostapenko, this week's Madrid semifinalist Jil Teichmann and No.18 Elena Rybakina, the highest-ranked unseeded player, are also in this quarter.

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Iga Swiatek wins 3rd career title in Rome moves into the top 10

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No.15 seed Iga Swiatek was in ruthless form as she routed No.9 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 in just 46 minutes in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final.

Swiatek dropped just 13 points in total - four in the first set and nine in the second - and faced only four game points against her. The Pole picks up her third career title following Roland Garros last autumn and Adelaide in February, and the result ensures that she will break the Top 10 for the first time on Monday.

It was the first double bagel to decide the Rome title, and the most one-sided Italian Open final since 1983, when Andrea Temesvari defeated Bonnie Gadusek 6-1, 6-0. The last double bagel in a WTA final was Simona Halep's victory over Anastasija Sevastova at Bucharest 2016, and the last at 1000 level or above was Stefanie Graf's rout of Natasha Zvereva at Roland Garros 1988.

Not that Swiatek was aware, such was her focus on court.

"When my coach told me it was 6-0, 6-0, I was, like, Really? Isn't that a mistake?" she said afterwards. "When I was on the breaks, I was visualising that I'm starting that match from the beginning every time. Actually, I did that so well that I didn't even know that it was 6-0 in the first set... The key is just to not to think about it and just, you know, play. Because when you're gonna think about the score, you can actually ruin your mindset and ruin your attitude."

Today also marked the shortest completed WTA final since Istanbul 2009, when Vera Dushevina needed only 42 minutes to beat Lucie Hradecka 6-0, 6-1.

Double bagels in WTA finals since 2000

2006 Québec City, Marion Bartoli d. Olga Puchkova
2013 Sydney, Agnieszka Radwanska d. Dominika Cibulkova
2016 Bucharest, Simona Halep d. Anastasija Sevastova
2021 Rome, Iga Swiatek d. Karolina Pliskova

Swiatek had never before scored a double bagel win at pro level, though notably had defeated Pliskova's twin sister Kristyna 6-0, 6-1 to reach her first WTA final at Lugano 2019.

For Pliskova, it is just the second time in her career that she has failed to win a game in a completed match following her 6-0, 6-0 loss as a 17-year-old to Anna Korzeniak in the 2009 Latina-Nascosa ITF $10K quarterfinals. A former champion in Rome in 2019 playing her third consecutive final here, a leg injury had forced Pliskova to retire trailing Halep 6-0, 2-1 last year.

Swiatek raced out of the blocks and never let up, striking 17 winners to only five unforced errors over the course of the match. By contrast, a slow-starting Pliskova served two double faults in each of her first two service games, and did not find a winner until she was set point down after 19 minutes.

"From the beginning I felt that she may be a little bit nervous," said Swiatek. "I wanted to use that and actually play as many games with that vibe as I can. That's why it was pretty fast at the beginning.

"I saw that, because I thought her movement wasn't really good, but I also had in my mind that she's gonna start in a minute feeling better and being in a rhythm. So I wasn't really focusing on that."

Matters improved for Pliskova in the second set to the extent that she held two break points in the third game and two points to hold in the sixth. But Swiatek was not only in eviscerating form, able to take a stranglehold of rallies immediately and rarely faltering in finishing them off, but hungry for every game.

The 19-year-old swatted away every opportunity that Pliskova had to even get on the board with renewed focus, and brought up championship point with another brilliant forehand winner.

Swiatek's combination of heavy spin and pace had allowed her to exploit Pliskova's movement throughout the match, and she sealed victory as the Czech sent a forehand wide.

The 13 points Swiatek had conceded are the fewest in a 1000-level final. The previous record were the 24 points Serena Williams lost to Carla Suárez Navarro at Miami 2015.

"I think she had amazing day and I had horrible day," said Pliskova. "That's one of those combinations which I guess can happen.

"I just was feeling horrible out there today. That's one of those days. But I think she really made it extremely difficult for me to do any point and to play anything from my game. She was playing super fast. I thought she was just going for it.

"I had a couple, just a couple, of good shots, and I think she can just redirect so well and she can play even faster, and especially on clay. Because she has so much spin, I think it's super tough to do something from it. Especially today she had amazing placement of the ball. Everything was super deep and just close to the lines."

The result extends Swiatek's record in finals at all levels to an impressive 16-3 - 6-2 in juniors, 7-0 in ITF events and now 3-1 at WTA level. Swiatek also becomes the third player to win a title after saving match point en route in 2021, alongside Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open and Ashleigh Barty in Miami, having staved off two against Barbora Krejcikova in the third round.

The Krejcikova match, in which Swiatek struggled and only gradually found some form, was a turning point.

"Actually, it's a good way to call it like two phases of the tournament," Swiatek said. "At the beginning it was really, really hard. I actually wasn't thinking that it's gonna be enough - I'm not talking about winning the tournament - to even do a good result. But day after day I was feeling a little bit better and I just focused on that. I had good people around me that were telling me not to really worry and that sometimes it's the best idea not to care.

"I think playing yesterday two matches actually gave me more than it would usually, because I would get tired. But this time I was in a rhythm and I could feel that for three hours yesterday. So it gave me a lot of confidence."

wtatennis.com

I'll be honest. I did not think Iga had a chance to win this one based on how she played her first few matches. Nearly being knocked out of the tournament having to save 2 match points in the 3rd round. 

It was only after her matches on Saturday when she had to perform double duty and play quarter finals and semis the same day, that I believed the Iga of 2020 was back. 

I continue to be amazed by her seemingly nerveless performances when it comes to finals. It's almost like when she reaches that stage she flips a switch and is able to play on a whole other level and just turns her emotions off. 

Not many players can concentrate and visualize so well they literally forget the score and have to be told at the end they won without losing a game. That's just extraordinary for someone so young. Roland Garros defence next, and based on what she just did in Rome who's to say she won't lift that trophy again come June. 

That was mighty impressive and a pleaasure to watch as always. Get some well deserved rest Iga you've earned it. Bravo.