World No. 1 Iga Swiatek fought back from a first-set deficit against Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova to reach the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open.
Roland Garros winner Swiatek trailed the 10th-seeded Czech 5-3 in the first set of their quarter-final match on Friday. She changed gears against the left-hander in a 7-6(3), 6-1 win on Center Court.
Both played a closely contested first set, with Vondrousova causing Swiatek to have issues with her serve. Swiatek lost serve twice in the opening set, but said she found new footing just in time. She never let up the barrage after the door opened.
“It’s not easy to adjust to her spin,” Swiatek said. “After the first set, I was determined to fight for every ball. I was more focused in the second set and knew what worked. I knew exactly how I should play.”
Swiatek quickly regained her feel as she stormed past Vondrousova in the second set. She made quick work as she lit up the court with her quick and consistent pace, overwhelming the Czech.
Swiatek has been dealing with concerns off the court. She and her team have been receiving messages from fans on the internet. They were criticizing her mid-match for losing a set in her third round match even though she continues to progress through the draw in the tournament.
“The amount of hate and criticism that me and my team get after even losing a set is just ridiculous,” said Swiatek. “I want to encourage people to be more thoughtful when they comment on the internet. It would be great if you guys [journalists] would kind of help us make it happen because we all sacrifice a lot, and we are all working really hard to be in that place.”
“We are always giving 100% of what we can do every day. It’s kind of sad for me to see that people I work with and myself, we are really judged. I would like to encourage people to be more thoughtful and to also focus on the positive side of what we are doing.”
She recovered from a set down to convincingly defeat Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. But this would still come with emotional turmoil during the tournament, with unwarranted criticism of her game.
“Seeing everything that’s going on on the internet after some days when I don’t play my best tennis and just have a moment of a little bit worse performance. I feel that world would be such a better place if we didn’t judge each other so quickly and write that,” said the 22-year-old. “It’s not only in the public area, but also emails I get and messages. My team, as well, actually, which is pretty crazy.”
Swiatek will face Coco Gauff in the semifinals on Saturday. The courts in Cincinnati are fast and both players are adaptable to deal with the quicker hard courts. Swiatek leads 7-0 against Gauff in their head to head matchup.
Stay tuned for more breaking tennis coverage and updates.
Featured Image courtesy of Western & Southern Open
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