Iga Swiatek fires warning with winning return in Stuttgart

James Richardson
Add as a preferred source on Google
Delight for Iga Swiatek

World No 1 Iga Swiatek made a winning return to the WTA Tour with a clinical 6-1, 6-4 triumph over China’s Zheng Qinwen.

Zheng had pushed Swiatek to three sets in their two previous outings, but this time the rankings queen was not to be denied.

Swiatek needed 1 hour and 26 minutes to extend her unbeaten run in Stuttgart to five matches.

The Pole advances to a quarterfinal match against previous champion and former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova, who downed Donna Vekic in a third-set tiebreak after 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach the final eight.

“I felt like I needed to be 100% focused from the beginning to the end, to think about technique and tactics,” Swiatek said afterwards. “I’m pretty happy that I’m not rusty and I could perform good tennis, even though I had a break.”

Swiatek, who was playing for the first time in 45 days, didn’t miss a beat as she extended her head-to-head lead over the reigning WTA Newcomer of the Year to 3-0.

She broke Zheng twice in each set to win in match that stood out as a potential banana skin for the defending champion.

Swiatek was delighted to be able to impose her game on Zheng, as she didn’t face a break point in her first seven service games.

In fact Swiatek was only pushed to deuce once, on her way to establishing a 6-1, 4-2 lead.

Then Zheng finally captured back-to-back games as she dug deep with gritty play setting up her first break point of the match in the eighth game of the second set with a scintillating backhand winner.

However, Swiatek had the answers to the challenge brought by Zheng.

“She’s really talented, and everybody can see that,” Swiatek said. “I needed to adjust, and I’m just happy that I was focused on myself, on what I wanted to do … and I feel pretty comfortable. So I’m happy that I could show my good tennis.”

Swiatek has recovered from the injury that has kept her out of action and looks in good touch ahead of the clay swing.

“I’m not injured anymore, so that’s the most important thing for me,” Swiatek said at Media Day in Stuttgart.

“I feel like I used that time in Warsaw well to rest a little bit and to not think about tennis.

“I have still been working out physically a little bit and obviously coming back to practicing step by step. Here I am, and I think I’m ready.”

Related Articles