It is very possible that three months ago Katarzyna Kawa watched on TV as Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani won the Olympic championship. Now, together with Iga Świątek, she fought with this great pair for the final of the world championships! And just like our ladies fought!
Errani has won five Grand Slam titles and is the leader of the world ranking of doubles players. Now he is number eight. Paolini is number 10. Together they were in the Roland Garros final this year, and later on the Roland Garros courts they won the Olympic final and received gold medals. Kawa, ranked 93rd in doubles, faced this pair WTA ranking and Świątek, who is not included in this ranking because she has not played doubles for three years. Therefore, the difference should be obvious, visible to the naked eye. And when we saw something like this, we had tears of emotion in our eyes!
Świątek and Kawa stood up to the champions
Świątek is 176 cm tall and Kawa is also 176 cm tall. However, both Italian women are petite – Paolini is 163 cm, and Errani – 164 cm. This could mean that physically stronger Polish women would try to enter this one game with doors and frames. But they certainly had to know and remember all the time that Italian women can counter even the greatest strength with their cunning.
Therefore, Iga's power again – as two days earlier in the match against the Czechs – was complemented by Katarzyna with her excellent doubles experience. Świątek and Kawa won against Katerina Siniakova, number one in the doubles rankings, and against Marie Bouzkova 6:2, 6:4. It was a surprise, our ladies tried to cause a sensation.
With the score 5:4 and three set points for the Polish women, the Italians showed all their experience. They survived it, defended themselves and won the first game 7:5. And when they started the second one by breaking their opponents' serve, we were afraid, honestly, that this would be the end of the excitement. However, Świątek and Kawa were not afraid at all! A dozen or so minutes later they were leading 5:1 in the second set! And what's more, Iga served. Then the prospects for a decisive set played to 10 points were very promising. But then again the Italians showed how experienced they were, and again they escaped from a situation of great danger with their cunning, tactics and control. With the score at 5:7, 5:5 and Kawa's serve clearly having a weaker moment, Paolini and Errani really wanted to keep going. And they went, unfortunately. Until the end.
Linette lost the match
The missed opportunities in this decisive doubles hurt. A happy ending would taste delicious. The semi-final against the Italians was so bad for us that it could have ended with a 0-2 defeat after the singles matches. Firstly Magda Linette (38 WTA) lost in two sets (4:6, 6:7) to Lucia Bronzetti, ranked 40 places lower. Later, Świątek suffered terribly against Paolini, she deservedly lost the first set (3:6), but she did not give up and won brilliantly (3:6, 6:4, 6:4) after a marathon that lasted almost three hours.
Before the clash Poland – Italy, the experts unanimously repeated: if the Polish women do not win 2-0, the Italians will be in the final. Nobody believed that our incoherent duo could defeat the great pair from Italy in the decisive match. No one believed it, except Świątek, Kawa and the rest of the team, who were cheering for Iga and Katarzyna together with a group of Polish fans present in Malaga.
These people once again experienced a long-lasting spectacle full of emotions. The quarter-final against the Czechs lasted from 5 p.m. on Saturday until 1 a.m. from Saturday to Sunday. The semi-final against the Italians lasted from 5 p.m. on Monday until half past one in the night from Monday to Tuesday. Then everyone was happy, after tennis they could go to the party. Now the sight of sad Świątek, Linette comforting her, and disappointed Kawa is heartwarming. Now the party is over and we are not happy. But we have the right to be proud.