Iga Swiatek sat on her bike a few minutes after this bitter defeat for her. Cycling on the home trainer is simply part of the professional physical follow-up of a world number one. Nevertheless, the still only 21-year-old seemed disillusioned after Sunday’s knockout round of the Australian Open against the current Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina. Around them, others were getting ready for their matches in the Night Session.
Everyone inside the Rod Laver Arena immediately saw the even bigger surprise of the day when Jelena Ostapenko converted her first match point against Coco Gauff. As a result, Swiatek and Gauff, number one and two on the seeding list, were eliminated within half an hour early on Sunday afternoon in Melbourne. With the even earlier defeats of Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev, the top seeded players of both individual competitions have now been eliminated before the quarter-finals for the first time in tournament history.
Lack of consistency in women’s tennis?
Many a person now dug out prejudices about a lack of consistency at the top of women’s tennis. Swiatek, however, has meanwhile won 37 singles in a row in 2022. Martina Hingis first succeeded in doing this in 1997. Swiatek won the Grand Slams in Paris and New York and is now in its 43rd week as number one in the world rankings. Only twelve players have spent more time at the top of world tennis. The Pole will be 22 in May – time enough to expand on these statistics.
But the match against Rybakina in Melbourne was a nightmare. The Muscovite, who started for Kazakhstan, won the Wimbledon tournament in 2022 – did not receive any points because of the sport-political power struggle of the tournament with the WTA and ATP. Instead of being a top 10 player with the appropriate placement, she is only listed at 22 Down Under. Swiatek is the most likely to stumble against the hardest-hitting players on tour. The last three losses have inflicted players with this characteristic in Madison Keys in Cincinnati, Aryna Sabalenka at the WTA Finals and most recently Jessica Pegula at the United Cup in Sydney.
At the press conference in Melbourne on Sunday, on the other hand, a leader of women’s tennis appeared who analyzed objectively. “Today I didn’t have much reserve left in me to fight even more.” You now have to take a step back: “I wanted it too much. I’ll just have to chill a bit more.” She gave her Polish colleagues the impression that this defeat could dampen the great expectations at home – towards a realistic level. “I just gave her free points on my serve,” said Swiatek.
Rybakina, on the other hand, currently has what is probably the best serve on the women’s tour, leads the tournament statistics with 24 aces and served at an average of 176 kilometers per hour – and thus 16 faster than Swiatek. She served the last service game to 6: 4, 6: 4 without losing a point. When asked by the FAZ whether she was the best server in the world, the 23-year-old replied: “At least he’s one of the fastest on the tour, it’s my strength and a weapon.” That despite her Wimbledon title in round one was scheduled for Court 13, she doesn’t care much, she added. Only one Russian journalist reports from Melbourne about the co-favourite. Nevertheless, she would continue to be perceived as a Russian in her homeland; the interest in her person is there.
Instead of the expected duel Swiatek against Gauff, there is now a match between Rybakina and Ostapenko in the round of eight. On a good day, the Latvian can overwhelm any player on tour with her power. In the 7: 5 and 6: 3 success, Ostapenko punished Gauff twice for failing to serve her first serve. In the first set, the 2017 French Open winner scored four points in a row. In the second round, a backhand return landed with a crash on the line to make it 4:3. With his own serve, Ostapenko, after turbulent years for the fifth time in a row at a Grand Slam, remained untouchable.
She currently has improved focus. She became Grand Slam champion too early at 19. “It took me a few years to deal with it.” Gauff, on the other hand, is only 18 years old. When she won her first WTA title in Linz in 2019 against Ostapenko of all places, the American was 15. She has now won three WTA titles, faced Swiatek in the French Open final and is a constant top 10 player outside of the tennis courts is already very mature, against gun violence and for equal rights.
Victory at the preparatory tournament in Auckland gave her a boost and additional expectations from home. The loss to Ostapenko, however, was her eighth in her twelfth match against top 20 players in the big four tournaments. “Normally, defeats are in my control because I’m a good player, but the way she played today, there was hardly anything left,” said Gauff. She is usually a good problem solver. “But today I didn’t have any answers ready,” she said, fighting back tears. Still, at 18 and 21, Gauff and Swiatek remain leading players on the tour. The defeats on Sunday don’t change that.
