Iga Swiatek advanced to the best 16 of the Grand Slam Australian Open for the third time in a row. The Polish tennis player on Saturday night in Melbourne got her revenge on Daria Kasatkina for last season’s defeat in Eastbourne and at the same time avenged Magda Linette, whom the Russian defeated in the second round on the antipodes a few days ago.
The beginning of the match was tight. Iga was under a lot of pressure in the third game of the 1/8 final. The Russian had a chance to break, but then the Polish tennis player served an ace, after which the accurately hit ball flew at 164 km/h and she took control of the situation. Moments later, the situation reversed, Kasatkina couldn’t handle the long exchange and it was the charge of coach Tomasz Wiktorowski who used the break-point to take a 3:1 lead. The 20-year-old from Raszyn sealed the advantage in the next game with an elegant backhand, increasing the lead in the first set.
Kasatkina tried to turn the set around and again had a breakpoint, but the Pole came through again and the scoreboard read 5:2. As befits a French Open winner, Iga played her best in the most important moments and won the decisive exchanges.
Iga followed that up with a quick 2-0 lead in the second set, but Kasatkina was able to clench her fist in victory as she finally broke the Pole’s serve. Her rival looked highly agitated, screaming after another successful play. Fortunately, in critical situations, Swiatek served in such a way that there was nothing left to collect on the other side of the net and she led 3:2. When she managed to breakthrough in the next game, the victory was within reach. After a little over an hour and a half of play, Iga could raise her hands in a gesture of triumph.