Iga Swiatek’s Roller-Coaster Ride Victory at the Cincinnati Open 2024: From Slow to Fast Courts
Iga Swiatek makes a remarkable switch from clay to hard courts and displays resiliency in the face of a difficult match against Varvara Gracheva at the Cincinnati Open 2024.
Following an incredible run of results in Europe, which included victories in Madrid, Rome, and Paris, Swiatek had a difficult time, falling early at Wimbledon and just missing out on an Olympic gold medal. She did, however, bounce back to win Poland a bronze medal.
The world No. 1 admitted, “I kind of backed out,” after witnessing Varvara Gracheva, a freer, push her into a third set on Wednesday.
The top-ranked player in the WTA had been touring around Europe’s cacophonous cities for the previous three months, going through some of the greatest and lowest points of her career. Following back-to-back victories in Madrid, Rome, and Paris, she was denied what would have seemed to be an Olympic gold medal after losing early at Wimbledon. However, she recovered from that setback fast enough to return to Poland with a medal.
Mason, an exurb of 36,000 people dispersed over the broad, level expanses of western Ohio, appeared to provide the quiet she needed to shut out everything but her game.
As the Cincinnati Open got underway this week, Swiatek stated, “I literally felt after the Olympics that I need to kind of reset and also just focus on getting my technique back together and just grinding on court.” This is the ideal location for it. It seems a little less insane now.
For fifty minutes or so, it appeared like Swiatek had discovered the ideal haven in Mason. Over 69th-ranked Varvara Gracheva, she took the opening set 6-0. She was taken down by eight points, outscored Gracheva 15 times to zero, and was only forced to deuce once. Swiatek was diving into the corners with her forehand and bending her serve beyond her opponent’s grasp.
Iga ultimately appeared to run around it to hit a backhand, merely to give herself some practice from that side, after Gracheva made the error of putting the ball back into Swiatek’s forehand side over the top. Her game was now completely polished and free of bugs.
Up until Swiatek led, 5-2, 15-40, double match point on Gracheva’s serve, the trend persisted. There was no reason at all to believe that Swiatek would become nervous or that the outmatched and overmatched Gracheva would make a comeback. However, those two events transpired concurrently in some way.
When Swiatek erred on the match points, Gracheva eventually relaxed. Gracheva hit her first winner of the evening to hold after Swiatek had produced 25 wins. She then hit another to extend her lead to 4-5. When they reached a tiebreaker, the roles were completely the opposite of what they had been when they started: Gracheva was leading with depth and speed, while Swiatek was hesitant and shanking balls far and wide. In the tiebreaker, Gracheva won the set 10-8 thanks to the final of those mistakes. It was difficult to recall or envision a more improbable return.
As he finished the second set, Swiatek remarked, “It wasn’t easy.” “I believe Varvara had more flexibility to play…and I sort of gave up.
“I think I started to play with less intensity. That was annoying since I didn’t feel like I made a difference, but it does happen occasionally.
Swiatek claimed that she calmed down and changed her strategy in the third set by using “help from the box,” or her player’s box. After Gracheva served at 2-2, 30-30, the match flipped around once more. After almost smothering another forehand into the net, Swiatek managed to find a way to send the ball over and finish the point with a much more assured forehand stroke. That fortunate turn of events appeared to give Swiatek motivation, as she regained her range and won 6-0, 6-7 (8), 6-2.
“I’m glad I was able to resume being more proactive in the third. I had match points, so I knew I had my game won.I simply made an effort to go forward and use what I had discovered in the previous set.
Two very different conclusions can be drawn from Swiatek’s first game back on the hard court since April.
Positively, she can do everything she wants on hard courts, just like she can on clay, as we witnessed in the first set. Additionally, this season’s revamped serve is a more reliable weapon than it was during her losses at the US Open and here last summer.
The drawback is that even when she’s going strong, anxiety can still get the better of her at the finish line, and mistakes can happen when she feels pushed and hurried.
Like many excellent players, Swiatek focused on the bright side, pointing to the swift transition from slow red clay in Paris to one of the fastest hard courts on the circuit in Cincinnati.
The change from the slowest to the quickest surface is most likely the hardest here, according to her. I’m still pleased with my performance because of this.
She continues to enjoy her tranquil life in Ohio, where she can improve her skills “step by step.” The third round matchup versus Marta Kostyuk will be the next step.
