Iga Swiatek had to work extremely hard in her Cincinnati quarterfinal match versus Mirra Andreeva but ultimately managed to get the job done and prevent an inspired 17-year-old Russian from upsetting her.
After beating Emma Navarro, Karolina Pliskova and Jasmine Paolini, world No. 24 Andreeva said before facing Swiatek that she wasn’t afraid because the Pole was also “a human being, so I don’t think there’s something exceptional,” and also added that she felt well about her chances.
And on Saturday, Andreeva proved that she wasn’t talking nonsense as she was competitive against the five-time Grand Slam champion pretty much throughout the entire match. But in the end, No. 1 seed Swiatek managed to escape with a 4-6 6-3 7-5 win in exactly two and a half hours of play and set up a semifinal against either Aryna Sabalenka or Liudmila Samsonova.
When the match started, it was clear that Andreeva’s plan was to be aggressive and not wait for Swiatek to give her anything. And early in the clash, that worked pretty well for the 17-year-old Russian after she broke the top-seeded Pole in the third game for an early lead.
How Swiatek came back to beat Andreeva?
Down by a break, Swiatek created some opportunities to get back into the first set – she had two break points in the sixth game and two another in the 10th game. But on three of those four break points, Andreeva came up clutch and hit an ace. And after preventing the world No. 1 from getting the break back, the world No. 24 realized her second set point to take the opener.
Trailing by a set, Swiatek instantly responded and it came after she converted her seventh break point of the match in the second game of the second set. In the fifth game, Swiatek failed to realize a break point and go up by a double break. However, that one break she got at the start of the set was enough since she didn’t allow Andreeva any break points during the second set.
After Swiatek controlled the second set, Andreeva was able to stabilize at the start of the decider and the two players were tied to five games apiece after the opening 10 games without any break points on either side.
But then, the five-time Grand Slam champion stepped up big time in the 11th game – earned two consecutive break points – and realized her second to open a 6-5 lead.
With a chance to serve for the match, Swiatek faced a break point in the 12th game but saved it before realizing her first match point to complete her three-set win over Andreeva.
