– Iga's best match in this tournament – said commentator Canal+ Bartosz Ignacik in the first set. Indeed, it looked like this at the time, although it could cool this enthusiasm in the second party. But you also have to reflect the merits of Elina Switolin. As a symbol of resistance set by a Ukrainian woman, you can recognize an ice bag, which the first tennis player reached when she was almost north on the clock in Miami. The vice -leader of the world ranking did not avoid some difficulties she had already faced Florida.
Switolina teaches patience, Świątek made up for the lesson
– Nice challenge – yes, she reacted when she found out who she would play with the quarter -finals. And she reminded that her previous duels of 22. In the WTA ranking, Ukrainian ones were very physically demanding. It was no different this time.
In none of the previous matches in Miami, the fate of Christmas in the tournament was seriously threatened, but in both she had temporary trouble. After defeating the Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6: 2, 7: 5 pointed to a sudden drop in energy in the second party, and in the first installment of the duel with Belgian Elise Mertens – in which she squandered the 5: 2 advantage – the service was caught.
The 23-year-old then won only 60 percent of shares after the first application and 43 percent. after the second. For comparison, these 60 percent In the second set she exchanged for 79 percent.
– I am glad that I was patient enough to just work on it – admitted the Polish woman after the Sunday victory 7: 6, 6: 1.
Patience is also a feature that is very useful in competition with Switolina. The 30-year-old plays in a varied way, and she is brave. Her determination and results after returning to the game in the spring of 2023 after the birth of the child aroused admiration. In three months she was promoted from 1344 to the 27th place in the ranking. The place in TOP30 gave her the semi -final of Wimbledon, which she got to by defeating Świątek.
In total, they faced a Polish woman three times before the match in Miami and each time on a different type of surface. Switolina won the meeting on London grass, and Świątek on Roman Mączka four years ago and on the previous season on the hard court in Dubai. The last match was the most one -sided – the Polish woman lost a total of five games. He was fast enough that the second rocket in the world … she forgot about him. In a Sunday interview with Canal+ she was sure that she recently played against the former third globe rocket in Wimbledon.
Now they had to face concrete for the second time. Both have successful on this surface and both in the second half of last year went through difficult moments. Świątek parted after the US Open with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and had a positive test result for the presence of prohibited substances (she was suspended for a month), and Switolina underwent a foot surgery right after the New York tournament.
This season, both tennis players do not show full their potential yet, but the Polish woman achieved much better results. But the fact that the Ukrainian woman has not passed the quarter -finals even before, and has only reached it twice, should not sleep vigilance. Because she won at that time, among others Twice with TOP5 tennis players.
– I have nothing to lose, and I can only gain. I will try to regain my strength because we are playing tomorrow. Iga is a great master and knows how to win. It will cost me a lot to beat her, but I'm ready for it – declared the player from Odessa after a three -hundred Sunday match with Czech Karolina Muchova.
And indeed, she gave her best, sometimes very difficult to make the task difficult, which gave the effect especially at the end of the first party. From the 11th tennis player – to the delight of the fans – they started to bid properly for spectacular play.
Earlier on the side of Christmas there was some frustration expressed with gestures. It was the result of problems with a shooting at the court. The Polish woman spread her hands helplessly several times. After the fourth game, she ran with rockets to the stands, where her training staff sat, and Fissette took them and checked the tension carefully. This could recall the situation from her match with Garcia, when the Frenchwoman at the beginning of the warm -up reported that she had the wrong tension and was clearly dissatisfied with it in the first set.
Polish women did not break out of the rhythm, but she was in some trouble. She had the advantage of breaking three times and lost her three times. While the Sunday tie-break in the match against Mertens was one-sided, the strongly focused Switolina fought to the end to reverse his fate. She also did not give up in the second installment, before which she used medical assistance (foot). How much effort cost this match, let the fact that during one of the breaks in the second party – although it was nearly a north of the local time – she put an ice cover on her neck.
– There is nothing here for free. Neither on the one hand – at some point, Ignacik Paul Kania -Chodań said a partner behind the microphone.
The name of the next rival of Świątek may surprise. Alexandra Eala from the Philippines, who will celebrate her 20th birthday in May, is the 140th tennis player in the world. In the main ladder of the event in Florida she found herself thanks to the “Wild Card” awarded by the organizers. And she showed how to use such opportunities – she had previously eliminated, among others Jelena Ostapenko and American Madison Keys. In the quarterfinals she did not have to go out to the court – Spanish Paul Bados withdrew before the meeting.
Świątek is not the only Polish tennis player in the eight of this year's edition of the Florida event. A few hours earlier, Magda Linette was the first to advance to her. Previously, this situation in “Tysięcznik” happened in October in Wuhan, when Linette and Magdalena Fręch reached the quarter -finals.