By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Saturday, August 17, 2024
Iga Swiatek rallied past 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 into her second straight Cincinnati semifinal where she could play Aryna Sabalenka.
Photo credit: Robert Prange/Getty
A flush-faced Iga Swiatek was tested on several fronts.
Talented teen Mirra Andreeva snatched a one-set lead, Swiatek’s normally rock-solid backhand was finding the net and steamy, windy conditions sometimes wreaked havoc with her topspin forehand.
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Swiatek showed multi-tasking skills fending off Andreeva 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to battle into her second straight Cincinnati Open semifinal.
World No. 1 Swiatek lifted her level when it mattered most today.
Following a 10-minute break for the heat rule after the second set, Swiatek served with more ambition in the decider.
In the final set, Swiatek won 21 of 28 points played on her serve withstanding a very tough test that nearly escalated into a third-set tiebreaker.
The 17-year-old Andreeva, the youngest Cincinnati quarterfinalist since Anna Kournikova, showed why she’s such a threat to top players. Andreeva was beating Swiatek in backhand exchanges, doubled the Roland Garros champion’s ace output—12 to 6—and earned a break point in the final game only to badly over-hit her trademark two-hander on a second-serve return.
"She's playing—and behaving—like she's older," Swiatek told Andrew Krasny afterward. "At least today because we've never played before. But I felt like we were playing at a similar level so it was really tight.
"Every point mattered at the end and I'm happy I just stayed solid and it wasn't easy for sure."
A stubborn Swiatek scored her 15th straight WTA 1000 tournament win—her last loss in a 1000 tournament was to Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Miami Open last March—and raised her 2024 record to 53-6.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek will play two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in a blockbuster semifinal for a spot in Monday's final.
An explosive Sabalanka won five games in a row sparking a 6-3, 6-2 win over 10th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova on Grandstand. Swiatek has won eight of 11 meetings with Sabalenka, including back-to-back finals wins on clay in Madrid and Rome last spring.
Andreeva was not over-awed by her first meeting with Swiatek.
Shifting spins from the start, Andreeva used a slick drop shot-passing shot combination to hold then put the screws to Swiatek’s serve in the third game.
On a quick Cincinnati stadium court, Andreeva came out rushing Swiatek’s two-handed backhand before sometimes shifting the attack to the forehand. Challenging the Pole’s vaunted forehand, Andreeva drew a pair of wayward forehands drawing first-break blood for 2-1.
The two-hander is Andreeva’s best stroke and she showed creative versatility off that wing again drop-shotting Swiatek to go up 40-love, eventually backing up the break at 15 for 3-1.
A half hour into the match, Andreeva slid a forehand down the line to save a second break point, then pumped a 99 mph ace wide and skipped a drop shot off the top of the tape stamping a hard-fought hold for 4-2.
Serving for the set, Andreeva erased a couple of break points with aces then earned set point. Swiatek slammed a backhand down the line to save it.
Fast lateral movement behind the baseline helped Andreeva bleed another backhand error from Swiatek for a second set point.
Measuring her toss, Andreeva threw down her third ace of the game sealing the opening set in style—and punctuating it with a loud “come on!”
Andreeva cracked three of her five aces in that final game and saved all four break points she faced in a 53-minute opening set.
On a sweltering day, Swiatek left the court for a clothing change. Andreeva walked to the side of the court and chatted with coach Conchita Martinez, the former Wimbledon champion, for a few minutes.
After that lengthy bathroom break, Swiatek curled an ace down the T to open the second set with a tense hold.
Tugging on her Nike visor, Andreeva fought off two more break points—she’d saved six break points by then—but Swiatek kept slugging. Swiatek drew an error to convert her seventh break point breaking for a 2-0 second-set lead.
Controlling the center of the court, Swiatek intensified the forehand to forehand exchanges, extending her second-set lead to 4-1.
The top seed served out the second set at love to force a decider.
On a sticky, sweltering day, the heat rule was in effect giving both women a 10-minute cooling reprieve before the decider.
The Roland Garros semifinalist Andreeva spun a bold backhand winner down the line holding for 4-3 in the final set.
Neither woman could gain separation until the 11th game of the set.
The teenager’s inexperience was evident when Andreeva tried to redirect her backhand down the line, missed the mark, then bounced her Wilson Blade to the blue court stepping on the racquet face in disgust to face double break point.
Seeing Andreeva’s frustration, Swiatek dug in even more and drew another error earning the crucial break for 6-5.
Signs of stress were evident as Swiatek ran around her forehand to hit a backhand nearly from the sideline. Andreeva answered with a backhand crosscourt then gained a break point when a Swiatek shot tripped on the tape and crawled back over on her side.
On a second-serve break point chance, Andreeva badly sailed a backhand return.
That reprieve was all Swiatek needed to find the finish line.
Swiatek swatted her sixth ace out wide for match point.
On the ensuing point, Andreeva had the world No. 1 scrambling but floated a forehand well long. Swiatek thrust her arms in triumph fighting through the talented teenager and tempestuous conditions for a gritty two hour, 30-minute win.
Swiatek improved to 16-1 in WTA 1000 quarterfinals.