Iga Świątek, after an excellent game, defeated Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 6:3, 2:6, 6:1 and advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament in Adelaide. The next opponent for the Polish player will be the leader of the WTA ranking – Australian Ashleigh Barty.
The beginning of Iga Świątek’s cooperation with Tomasz Wiktorowski – Agnieszka Radwańska’s former coach – is going well. After victories against Daria Saville and last year’s US Open finalist Canadian Leylah Fernandez, the Polish tennis player defeated Belarusian Victoria Azarenka to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament in Adelaide. Now her form will be tested by the world’s number one Australian Ashleigh Barty.
From the very beginning of the match, Iga was very confident on the court and dictated the rules of the game. The 20-year-old from Raszyn quickly won the opening set, handled Azarenka’s serve perfectly, and broke the Belarusian to take a 3:1 lead. Her opponent responded immediately with a break-point, but she was not able to stop the well-disposed Świątek, who won the set 6:3.
The third set decided on the advance to the semifinals. The match started excellently for Świątek, who used her break-point already in the first game and soon after led 2:0. In the next game, the Pole brilliantly placed a backhand in the corner of the court, hit a line right after, and broke Azarenka once again. The Belarusian seemed to be losing her strength. She stretched her exhausted muscles during breaks. She still tried to get back into the match but was unable to catch up to Świątek.
Victoria Azarenka (Belarus, WTA 27) – Iga Świątek (Poland, WTA 9) 3:6, 6:2, 1:6