“I was a little bit distracted” Iga Swiatek happy to pull off a tough win in the Indian Wells opener

“I was a little bit distracted” Iga Swiatek happy to pull off a tough win in the Indian Wells opener

Iga Swiatek

3rd seed at the tournament, Iga Swiatek was put through a tough test in her 2022 Indian Wells Open match against Anehlina Kalinina in the second round. The 20-year old Pole is known to wrap her games quickly, at least in the first few rounds but Kalinina surprised her by winning the first set. Iga however pressed her reset button to win the match 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 in 2 hours.

Despite leading 3-1 and then 4-2 in the first set, Swiatek could not halt Kalinina’s burst of points as the Ukrainian player claimed the first set. While the second set shows Iga dropping a bagel, in the first two service games itself, she had to save 5 break points before taking full control to not drop any more games in the set. The third set was comparatively better for the Pole who wrapped up the proceedings quickly.

“I think at the beginning, I was too focused on the conditions. I was a little bit distracted by what was going on with the wind … I had to find my rhythm, and in the second set, I did that. I’m pretty happy that I could turn my hat on to ‘fight mode’ and really stay focused because that was the key,” said Iga during her on-court interview after winning.

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Iga Swiatek to take on fellow Junior Clara Tauson in Round 3

clara tauson
clara tauson

As Iga now reaches the 3rd round of the tournament for the second time having earlier made it to the 4th round of the tournament in the 2021 edition, she will be taking on the 29th seeded Clara Tauson in the third round. Clara has made a good debut at the tournament as she moves into the third round of the ‘5th Grand Slam of Tennis’. She defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight-sets in her tournament debut.

“She is around my age but we haven’t played a lot in juniors or on tour, so I don’t know a lot about her game. But I know she plays pretty fast and you have to be ready for aggressive shots,” added Iga about her matchup with the Danish teenager.

Also Read: “Enjoying the fact that I’m back” Rafael Nadal expresses his delight for being back at one of his ‘favourite tournaments’

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