Iga Swiatek faced down a trial of physical and mental strength on Sunday night to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final and answer some of the questions about whether she is ready to compete for the title in SW19.
Holding off two match points to win in three sets over three hours, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3, Swiatek had to wrestle not only with her own game, as she continues to adapt to playing on grass, but also an opponent in Belinda Bencic who is comfortable on the surface, has a mean backhand, and rose to the occasion on Centre Court.
After losing the first set on a tie-break, the turning point came at 5-6 in the second. A combination of bad play and Bencic’s assertiveness, a microcosm of the match to that point, had given the Swiss No 14 seed two break points. But in the moment when she needed it most Swiatek was able to raise her game; first finding a low forehand drive, then one off the backhand to pull to deuce before serving out for 6-6.
After winning the second-set tie-break, Swiatek broke early in the third and methodically ground her way to victory. It was not always pretty but it was effective under real pressure.
“It wasn’t easy,” Swiatek said. “She had match point, right? I don’t know if that’s even happened in my career [to come back]. I’m really happy. I needed that win to believe in myself a bit more on this surface. I just wanted to be solid and thought that would give me again a chance of victory. I’m happy I stayed disciplined.”
On how she had dealt with the possibility of imminent defeat, Swiatek insisted she had felt a release of pressure at that crucial moment. “At a point like that you feel like you gave your best but you’re still down so you’re playing a little bit … easier. She’s leading anyway, so play the shots more fearlessly; there’s nothing to lose you’re already in a bad position. On a match point, I think the player who is supposed to win has more pressure. I just wanted to play and I guess it worked.”
Bencic, the Olympic champion, deserves credit for making the match a high-stakes spectacle that, while peppered with errors, also offered moments of the highest quality, not least off the Swiss’s backhand. But after looking the better player for the first two hours, by the end her resistance had been broken.
With her forced to stoop to her knees to drive the necessary top-spin off her forehand, Swiatek’s game still does not seem comfortable on grass. But after taking the title in Bad Homburg, four victories here suggest the adaptation is moving along. “I think I’m learning to love the grass,” she said. “Every day my love is growing bigger and I want to stay for as many days as possible to play on this court. The hard work is paying off.”
Swiatek will face Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals, after the Ukrainian’s emotional victory against Victoria Azarenka. Elsewhere there were wins for Jessica Pegula and Marketa Vondrousova in the women’s draw, while on No 3 Court there was the distinct sense of a buzz building as the 16-year-old Russian qualifier Mirra Andreeva outplayed Anastasia Potapova, the No 22 seed, 6-2, 7-5, to progress to the last 16.
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In her first grass tournament, Andreeva showed remarkable poise and precision as she pushed her far more experienced compatriot consistently out of her comfort zone. Potapova came back from making 16 unforced errors in the first set to make the second a contest, but Andreeva proved irresistible. After Potapova held off seven break points at 4-4 in the second, Andreeva attacked again at 5-5 and Potapova collapsed, surrendering two double faults and an unforced error.
Having started the year ranked No 312 in the world, Andreeva is making a rapid ascent and cites an internal dialogue that followed her grand slam debut at Roland Garros for her continued improvement. “I talked to myself. Just me and myself, and that’s it,” Andreeva said after defeating Potapova. “In my head I realised some things. I took some decisions that I think are now important for me. Just about everything: tennis-wise, mental-wise.”
One of the changes appears to have been a switch in role model, from Roger Federer to Rafael Nadal, and particularly the Spaniard’s final act in 2022 when he came back from injury to claim two late grand slam titles. “I just try to remember what would he do in these moments, what would he do on the score,” she said. “Sometimes, yes, I can say that I copy him.”