Clara Tauson reveals the key moment when she realised she had the ‘upper hand’ in Iga Swiatek upset
Clara Tauson says that her upset over Iga Swiatek displayed ‘all of the hard work’ that she has been doing recently and believes that the second set was where she gained the ‘upper hand.’
The Dane overcame the Pole 7-6(1), 6-3 in the fourth round of the Canadian Open, gaining revenge for her Wimbledon loss just four weeks prior.
Tauson broke the former world No 1 early on in the first set, before being broken back whilst trying to serve out the first set at 5-4.
However, the sixth seed was not to be denied, taking the set in a tiebreak and breaking a four-set losing streak against Swiatek.
In the second set, Tauson looked like the far more comfortable competitor, breaking twice, before being broken herself at 5-2 – breaking to finish the clash.
“I mean, I knew that she was going to keep fighting,” analysed the Dane.
“Obviously, she’s a champion, and they never stop fighting.
“I didn’t even feel too bad about getting broken there, because I felt like I was playing the right way. She was just playing better than me in that game.
“I felt like I had a bit better luck in my returning games, and obviously she started with a double fault in the next game, which gave me a little bit more confidence going into the rest of the points.
“I had a little bit of the upper hand in the end of the set. I think I showed that I can keep cool under pressure.”
The Canadian Open will be Tauson’s second WTA 1000 quarter-final, having also reached the final in Dubai in February (losing to Mirra Andreeva).
Overall, it is her second victory over a top-five opponent and her fifth over top-10 players.
Tauson is the second player to beat both Sabalenka and Swiatek this season after Madison Keys, Mirra Andreeva, Coco Gauff and Jelena Ostapenko.
As a result of her latest victory, the Dane will reach a new career-high of, at least, world No 17, two spots above her previous best.
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“It’s my second win like that in my career and second win like that this year,” she remarked, referring to her 6-3, 6-2 Dubai victory over world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
“So obviously it’s really great, and it shows all the hard work I’ve been doing has been the right thing.
“I think I’m getting more confidence in this kind of level and feeling like I belong here a bit more.
“I think that really helped me today in the important moments.
“I played Iga three times before, and I’ve been close two of the times. Yeah, I just felt like after I won the first set that I needed to continue, because I know she’s never going to give up, and she’s going to come out firing no matter what.
“I think obviously getting a win against her after losing to her in Wimbledon and a couple of weeks ago is obviously nice, because I was not feeling great in that match, and I felt like I was playing some good tennis in Wimbledon.
“So I felt like if I could keep that going, I thought I had a shot. It’s really nice to sit here now.”
Tauson will next play Australian Madison Keys, with the pair having only met once – in Auckland this year – where the former was victorious 6-4, 7-6(7).
