Iga Swiatek makes ‘playing men’s style tennis’ admission after milestone match as she issues Jessica Pegula warning
Playing in her 100th Grand Slam match, Iga Swiatek brushed aside Liudmila Samsonova to set up a quarter-final rematch with Jessica Pegula at the US Open.
The top-seeded Pole defeated Samsonova 6-4, 6-1 to reach the last eight at Flushing Meadows as she made it 83 wins from 100 Grand Slam matches.
The only break of serve in the opening set came in game 10 while she broke twice in the second set and afterwards Swiatek described it as “men’s tennis”.
“At the beginning I felt like we were playing men’s style tennis, holding serve every game,” the 23-year-old said. “But I knew if I kept pushing I would have chances to break her serve. In the second I just wanted to keep being focused and not let my mind drift off.”
It is only the second time in her career that Swiatek has reached the quarter-final at the US Open as she also made it to this stage when she won the title in 2022. On that occasion, she also defeated Pegula in the last eight.
Swiatek leads their head-to-head 6-3 – having also won their most recent encounter at the 2023 WTA Finals – but the American is the form player on the WTA Tour as she is 13-1 on hard-courts since August, having won the Canadian Open and finished runner-up in Cincinnati.
“She has a pretty tricky game style, so you have to really work on your legs and be ready for longer rallies, but also for some intense hitting,” the five-time Grand Slam winner said of Pegula.
“It’s going to be a challenge.”
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The reigning French Open winner is yet to drop a set at this year’s US Open while she didn’t face a single break point in her last three matches.
There is no doubt she is looking like the form player.
“At the beginning it wasn’t easy to get the rhythm, especially because we kind of put our focus more on recovery than actually, you know, practising before the Slams,” Swiatek said.
“I, for sure, am feeling better and better every day.”
The world No 1 will be the favourite and Pegula, who defeated Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-2, admits facing Swiatek could take some pressure off.
“It depends on the day, how you’re feeling, how you’re playing once you get out there. I mean, I don’t really know how I’m gonna feel until I literally am, like, first game, like, playing,” she said.
“I could play super free, but then at the same time, you know, she’s the number one player in the world, so, you know, she’s gonna be able to handle those pressure moments probably with experience.”
