Iga Swiatek had to work hard to defeat young Mirra Andreeva on Saturday, with the world number one making a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 comeback at the Cincinnati Open.
The top-seeded Pole needed a break in the penultimate game of a match lasting more than two and a half hours to finally advance to the semifinals of the WTA and ATP event, a warm-up match for the US Open, which ends on Monday.
Swiatek advanced on her first match point when her opponent hit a long return.
“She is 17, but I think we played at the same level,” said Swiatek. “It was a close game. In the end, every point counts. It certainly wasn’t easy.”
Swiatek said she needed to change her tactics after losing the first set.
“I knew I couldn’t play like I used to. I had to put more pressure on them,” Swiatek said.
“I played more proactively and had a better idea of what I had to do. The same rhythm (as in the first set) would not be enough.”
“I changed things and felt the results immediately.”
Swiatek suffered a break in the third game of the 53-minute opening set and was unable to win it back. Andreeva needed two set points to win the first set and took the lead with an ace.
Swiatek hit back in the second set with a break to make it 2-0, which she held until the end and leveled the sets at 1-1.
In the third set, the top seed secured a last-minute break to take a 6-5 lead and raised her hands in victory when Andreeva returned over the baseline after Swiatek’s first match point a set later.
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