“Had some trouble closing,” Iga Swiatek becomes the first player since 2019 to win 50 matches on the WTA Tour but the World No. 1 isn’t satisfied
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Iga Swiatek
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek has started her 2022 Cincinnati Open campaign brilliantly as she defeated former US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the second round having received a bye in the first round. Iga won the match 6-4, 7-5 in 1 hour and 39 minutes to sail through into the third round as she eyes her fifth WTA-1000 title of the season.
Coming from a stinging defeat in the Canadian Open where she lost in the Round of 16 to Beatriz Haddad Maia who finished as the runner-up, the Pole had her 18-match winning streak on hardcourts broken while her 23-match unbeaten streak in WTA-1000 events also came to an end in Canada. While Iga has often said that she doesn’t chase records and streaks as her main focus remains winning the match, the Pole was looking to make the best use of the little time ahead of the 2022 US Open where Iga will aim for her 3rd Grand Slam title.
“I was able to refocus,”: Iga Swiatek on playing crucial points
While Iga was the only one to manage an ace in the match as she hit 2 past Sloane, she also committed 3 double faults to the American’s 2 double faults. While both players had 11 opportunities to break the opponent’s serve, Sloane could manage only 4 breakpoints while Iga won 6 of them which eventually turned out to be the difference eventually as Iga served for the match in the 12th game of set 2 to avoid the 3rd set decider.
“I’m pretty happy that I started well, both sets. I had some trouble closing it earlier, but I’m really happy that in those important moments I was able to refocus again. Well, for sure those matches maybe in Indian Wells, those three sets against Simona and Angie. Yeah, it was pretty tricky, but also, at the Australian Open when I could come back after losing the first set, that really gave me a lot,” said Swiatek after her win over Stephens.
Iga will now take on Madison Keys in the third round with the American coming with a win against Jelena Ostapenko and will take on Iga for the third time with both the earlier meetings having gone Iga’s way as the Pole is yet to drop a set against Keys.
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Sarthak Shitole
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