The 21-year-old Polish player from Swiatek, who has been ranked number one since April 4, won her 61st match on the WTA tour this year.
In her debut match at the WTA 500 San Diego Open, top-ranked Iga Swiatek defeated Chinese player Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 4-6, and 6-1 in more than two hours.
Swiatek defeated the hard-hitting Qinwen, ranked 28th, in the Round-of-16 match despite a persistent mist that forced a 30-minute delay immediately after the match’s first point was played and a temporary pause early in the second set.
Swiatek, a 21-year-old Polish player who has been ranked number one since April 4, won her 61st match on the WTA tour this year.
With six championships in 2022, including the U.S. Open, French Open, and Indian Wells, Swiatek commented, “I wasn’t anticipating to have this sort of amazing experience so quickly in my career.” It seems as though my fantasies are coming true,
Both players frequently employed drop shots while competing on a slippery hard court, resulting in Swiatek falling in the second set while attempting to return a successful Qinwen drop shot.
At 4-all, the first and second sets were knotted. Swiatek held service in the first set after breaking Qinwen’s serve to take a 5-4 lead.
In the second set, Qinwen broke Swiatek to take the lead at 5-4 after the score was level at 4-all. Before winning the ninth game, Qinwen held off five break points. To draw the match at a set each, Qinwen then defeated Swiatek.
As closely contested as the first two sets were, Swiatek swiftly took the lead with a 5-1 score in the third. With four straight points at love, she won the crucial championship game.
Swiatek, who lost to former No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova, who was competing in her home nation, in the Agel Open finals last Sunday in Ostrava, Czech Republic, said, “This draw is so outstanding that I wasn’t anticipating any easy matches.”
