With their retaliation and winning at the US Open, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek have shown they are only human, demonstrating that even the best players in the world sometimes have to figure things out on their own.
Swiatek, the reigning champion at Wimbledon, lived up to the day’s theme of triumph through adversity, coming back from a 5-1 deficit in the opening set against Anna Kalinskaya to earn a 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory in their third-round encounter on Saturday.
Swiatek expressed his satisfaction that I returned and continued to “figure out” and solve problems. It wasn’t an easy match, to be sure.
The world no. 2 had a far cry from her sharpest performance in a sluggish, error-strewn contest; nine breaks and 67 unforced errors were combined to depict a match won through sheer bloody-mindedness rather than sublime shot-making.
Swiatek held her own in the crucial moments, saving four set points in the opening set and breaking late in the second to claim her 20th major match victory and draw level with Aryna Sabalenka, the reigning champion and world number one.
Finding the solutions and the specific thing that will help you can sometimes be challenging, she continued.
You must be able to consider what you can do with your mind open. In terms of that, I would say that today was a pretty good day because, you know, at 5-1 or something, it’s easy to panic, which I didn’t.
Her reward is a meeting with Ekaterina Alexandrova, the 13th seed, in the last 16.
The 27th seeded Denis Shapovalov was the subject of a similar display of resolve when the world number one showed up, winning 5-7,6-4,6-3,6-3.
The victory extended the 24-year-old Italian’s unbeaten streak to 24 hardcourt Grand Slam matches, a streak that was fueled not just by talent but also by his capacity to problem-solve when his best tennis fails to match his best form.
I am not a machine, I am aware. In their first meeting of the 2021 Australian Open, Sinner was beaten by the Canadian in the opening round of the event.
“Every match is very challenging,” he said. Every challenge is challenging.
He is one of the players who “has more qualities or potential,” he says. I merely made an effort to remain there mentally.
Zverev loses control once more.
Not everyone’s top seeds came up with the same winning formula.
With a set-dancing victory over Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, world number three Alexander Zverev, who was chasing his first Grand Slam title, was overcome by the German 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-4, ending his tournament in frustration.
As the match drew to a close, Zverev slammed his racquet in disbelief as Auger-Aliassime’s fearless shot-making turned the tables.
Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff have set up a fourth-round showdown that will dominate the tournament’s second week, making it the most intriguing battle of wills to come as it approaches.
In her most impressive performance of the week, Gauff defeated Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-3, 6-1 while four-time major champion Osaka overcame a midmatch slump to defeat 15th seed Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.
A charismatic showdown between two charismatic former champions six years after their memorable first encounter at Flushing Meadows could not have been planned better for US fans.
In a show of sportsmanship that delighted the crowd, defending champion Osaka defeated tearful 15-year-old Gauff 6-3, 6-0, before comforting her and urging her to address fans in the stadium.
Gauff said, “It would be a cool kind of deja vu type of situation, but hopefully it will result in a different outcome.”
Coco and Naomi reunite in Round 4 of the photo after their initial encounter in NYC. twitter.com/SzSKAbnCFh
Venus Williams, 45, and Leylah Fernandez, both from Canada, won their first tournament together 7-6 (1), 6-1, over Ulrikke Eikeri and Eri Hozumi, demonstrating the theme of experience and determination.
In five sets, Andrey Rublev’s fairytale run ended Coleman Wong’s run in Hong Kong.
Following Ben Shelton’s hiccup-related exit the day before, there were three more retirements in the men’s draw on Saturday.
When their rivals finally threw the towel on Alex de Minaur, Lorenzo Musetti, and Leandro Riedi, a 435th-ranked Swiss qualifier, moved on.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply