Iga Świątek was the favorite in this quarterfinal. Firstly: after a very poor performance in the first round US Open 2024 Shelf She clearly improved in the second, third and fourth rounds. Secondly, she generally does well against Jessica Pegula – she has won six of nine matches against her so far. But now the Pole has lost primarily to herself, and not to the American.
- The score was 1:0 on Świątek's serve, and Pegula came out after the Pole's double fault.
- Pegula went to 3:0 on Świątek's serve after another double fault by the Polish player
- In the first set, Świątek hit only 36% of her first serves. And that's still a good statistic considering that at one point Iga had a score of 1/10, and with the score 0:3 it was 2/12! (the Pole's service problems were all the more surprising because she had just played three matches in a row for the first time in her already rich career without being broken even once)
- In the first set, Świątek made 19 unforced errors. With only three finishing strokes!
We could go on for a long time about Iga's weaknesses in this match. The second set was better in her performance, but it wasn't good either, it would also provide many points for this list.
Of course, Świątek was looking for something that could help her turn this match around. Between sets, she went to the locker room and changed her outfit – in the first set, she played in the blinds, in which she struggled in the first round against Rakhimova, and in the second set, she came out in the white, in which she played very well in the second, third and fourth rounds against Shibahara, Pavlyuchenkova and Samsonova. But – unfortunately – the most important thing did not change:
- Iga was still in a hurry, who knew why and for what purpose.
- Coach Tomasz Wiktorowski kept trying to help her somehow, but he probably didn't know how exactly. His voice sounded more irritated than confident. On the other hand: why should anyone be surprised? Iga didn't listen to the advice. We all heard that she should play to her opponent's backhand, and we saw that she still chose to play to her forehand, even though it didn't bring success.
Świątek, as often when things aren't going well, seemed to prefer beating her head against a wall in the hope that it would eventually break, rather than looking for other options, a plan B. It's possible that with someone who was worse off than Pegula Świątek would have turned this match around and stuck to her plan A. But Pegula, after a weak first part of the season, is now having a good time – after the Olympics she has just won 14 out of 15 matches. This significantly improves her season balance (currently 35:11), and above all gives her the first promotion in her career to semi-final Grand Slam tournament (at the seventh attempt!).
Świątek tied the US Open with a buckle
And Świątek? She could have won her 60th match of the season, but she lost her eighth. Deservedly. She finished it with a total of 41 unforced errors. With only 12 winners. She didn't look that bad even in that ragged first round, when she beat Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 7-6. Back then, with 41 unforced errors, she had 30 winners.
Why did Iga's level suddenly drop again? After all, between the matches with Rakhimova and Pegula she had good performances with Shibahara (six unforced errors), Pavlyuchenkova (nine) and Samsonova (19)? It seems that Iga is already too tired in the second part of the season to maintain her top form over a longer distance.
It's a pity. Especially since at this particular match, a figure the Pole admires appeared. Simone Biles is a seven-time champion and an 11-time Olympic medalist in gymnastics. During the Paris Games, Świątek said that, alongside Polish volleyball players and volleyball players and basketball players would most like to see one of the inspiring Biles' performances live. I wonder if Iga saw her in the stands at her game now.
We saw the American laughing during the second set, giving an interview to ESPN. It looked like she liked her compatriot's good play. And in the middle of the night we had a nightmare. The kind that makes it hard to fall asleep. We were hoping that Iga's match would once again be like a good, waking coffee. It turned out that we spilled that coffee on ourselves.