– I played with her last year in Madrid, so I know how she plays. I definitely have to be more aggressive, I will try to force her to run, I will try not to give her too much time – this was the plan for the match with Iga Świątek presented by Bernarda Pera (No. 77 in the WTA ranking), visiting the Tennis Channel studio.
Watch the video Idze Świątek lost his nerves. “As journalists we didn’t know what to do”
After half an hour of the match with the Pole in the second round of the Roman “thousander”, the American went into the break between sets with the score 0:6.
“The Beast” Świątek and a telling quote from Tyson
“Mike Tyson once said that everyone has a plan to fight until they get punched in the face” – at that moment, Michał Chojecki, a journalist of “Super Express”, recalled the golden thought of “Bestia” on the X website. Well, it’s hard to blame Pera for having a plan for the fight. But it’s also hard to be surprised that “Bestia” Świątek quickly responded to her rival’s words. By deeds.
At the Foro Italico in Rome, Świątek definitely feels at home. The beautiful scenery makes us happy watching the matches, but for Iga the most important thing is probably the courts themselves – almost a hundred years old, typically clay, perfect for the queen of clay. A year ago, Iga started this tournament by beating Anastasija Pavlyuchenkova 6-0, 6-0, then defeated Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-0 and Donna Vekić 6-3, 6-4 and unexpectedly lost to Jelena Rybakina in the quarterfinals. Unexpectedly, because everyone saw Iga as a sure favorite to win the event for the third time in a row. And it is very possible that the Pole would have scored this hat-trick if she had not been stopped by an injury.
Iga like an empress. Dominance and calm
A year ago, Świątek said goodbye to Rome with an unfinished match against Rybakina – with the score 6:2, 6:7, 2:2, the Pole resigned from further play, not wanting to aggravate her thigh injury. Now she returned to Rome healthy and greeted the eternal city like an empress.
6-0 against the brave Pera in half an hour – this was a blow to Magda Linette’s doubles partner and it was a clear signal sent to all rivals: you plan, and I keep playing and winning.
It is significant that Świątek was not happy either after this set or the entire match. However, after the first game, Iga’s staff, especially psychologist Daria Abramowicz, showed great joy.
Świątek’s strong entry into the next tournament is certainly what we all hoped for and expected. On Saturday, Iga won a great final against Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid 7:5, 4:6, 7:6. In this way, she won the last title she was missing in a major clay tournament (the biggest one, Roland Garros, she had already won three times, and triumphed twice each in Rome and Stuttgart). This made her very happy, and even more so than the next, 20th WTA title in her life, Iga probably appreciated the fact that she was on top in the most fierce match with Sabalenka in the history of their rivalry (they had already faced each other 10 times, the balance was 7: 3 for a Polish woman).
Świątek, who is first in the world ranking, has an advantage of over three thousand points over the second placed Sabalenka, this time in Rome she is not defending too many points, and in general her philosophy is that she does not defend anything, she attacks. And rightly so! The rivals have the right to want to attack – just like Pera wanted. But they will get a counterattack. We saw it once again.
The set won by Iga 6-0 was her eighth set in Rome. And this was only the 17th match that Świątek played there in her still very short career. At the same time, this set was the 25th baked goods from the Iga bakery in 2024.
Fans, journalists and experts count how many Świątek bakes bagels (sets won 6:0) and how many baguettes (6:1), because since 2022 these are impressive results every year. In Rome, even before the period of domination – already in 2021 – Iga was able to defeat Karolina Pliskova 6:0, 6:0 in the final. Now, in 2024, Świątek has been showing from the beginning that she is ready to perform on her home soil again.
Świątek’s next rival will be Julia Putintseva (41 WTA). The match will most likely take place on Saturday.
2024-05-09 21:16:00
#American #Iga #wiatek #Tenniss #clear #answer
