Clara Tauson Shares What’s ‘Unreal’ About Beating Iga Swiatek in Montreal

Clara Tauson ended Iga Swiatek's nine-match winning streak to secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open for the first time.

Clara Tauson Shares What’s ‘Unreal’ About Beating Iga Swiatek in Montreal

Iga Swiatek, Clara Tauson (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

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Iga Swiatek suffered a shocking upset in the fourth round of the Canadian Open. On Sunday (August 3), 16th seed Clara Tauson secured a 7-6, 6-3 win over the Pole to book herself a spot in the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 tournament for the second time in her career.

It was Tauson’s first win over the six-time Grand Slam champion after three back-to-back defeats. The Dane also avenged her fourth-round Wimbledon defeat.

During the post-match interview, Tauson said it feels “totally unreal” after finally beating the former World No.1. At the press conference later, she was asked more about this special victory and why she described this win as unreal.

Yeah, I mean, I played Iga three times before, and I’ve been close two of the three times, and yeah, I just felt like after I won the first set that I needed to continue ‘coz I know she’s never going to give up and she’s going to come out firing no matter what.

With this defeat, the 24-year-old once again crashed out of the Canadian Open without making it past the semifinals. Swiatek has produced her best performance in the tournament in 2023 by reaching the last four, losing that match to eventual champion Jessica Pegula.

And yeah, I think obviously getting a win against her after losing to her in Wimbledon a couple of weeks ago is, obviously, nice, because I was not feeling great in that match, and I felt like I was playing some good tennis in Wimbledon. So I felt like if I could keep that going…I thought I had a shot.

Clara Tauson added

Tauson is aiming to win a WTA 1000 title for the first time in her career. She is a one-time finalist in this category: reached the summit clash of this year’s Dubai Open but failed to cross the final hurdle in the form of Mirra Andreeva.

The World No.19 has lifted one title this season- the ASB Classic, which she won after four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka handed her the walkover. Tauson is also chasing her third title of her career, plus her first in the WTA 500 or above category.

Iga Swiatek posts a message on social media after her Canadian Open exit

Iga Swiatek has so far taken home 10 WTA titles, but none of these titles came in the two WTA 1000 events held before the US Open. In Cincinnati, too, Swiatek has not yet progressed beyond the semifinals.

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Cycling on TNT Sports)

She made her appearance in the Canadian Open for the fourth time in her career. It was also her first tournament since her victory at Wimbledon. Following her exit, the World No.3 took to Instagram to share a post.

Merci Montreal Of course I wished for better result but it was an incredible experience to play in front of you. See you next time!

Check out the post here:

Swiatek has lifted just the Wimbledon title this year. After playing in a grass-court final for the first time in Bad Homburg (lost to Jessica Pegula), Swiatek ended her title drought on the surface by dismantling Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in the championship clash at SW19.

Swiatek’s next target is the Cincinnati title. She has reached the semifinals twice- in 2023 and 2024, losing both matches to eventual winners Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka, respectively.

Because of her defeat, the four-time Roland Garros champion lost a chance to remove Gauff from the second spot on the rankings table. Swiatek has 6933 points, while Gauff has 7789. The American ace also crashed out of the tournament due to her straight-set defeat to teenager Victoria Mboko in the fourth round.

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