Iga Swiatek Breaks Silence After Playing “One of the Best Matches” of Her Season Against Marta Kostyuk

Iga Swiatek kept her Canadian Open campaign alive with a superb performance in the Round of 16 against Marta Kostyuk. Despite having a dreadful start and losing the first set, the Pole mounted a remarkable comeback to win the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Highlighting how much the win meant to her, Swiatek admitted that she was proud of her performance.

“A lot. Marta (Kostyuk) is playing great now,”she said in her post-match interview. “She’s in a good place, winning many matches. I needed to step up, and I did that. Probably one of the best matches of the season for me, so I’m happy about that.”

Swiatek didn’t look to be in the game at all during the first set. She managed to win just one point on her serve throughout the set as Kostyuk gained multiple breaks. But the Ukrainian wasn’t strong on her serve either, as both players traded breaks. However, Kostyuk eventually managed to get a hold of her serve and took the lead in the match.

When asked about why her serve was so weak in the opening set, Swiatek admitted that the speed wasn’t up to the mark and also praised Kostyuk for her powerful returns.

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“I think the speed of my serve was not sufficient, but she was returning very well. I didn’t really blame myself for anything,” she said in the post-match press conference.

The World No. 8 turned the tables around in the second set. This time, it was Kostyuk who found it incredibly difficult to get a service hold. Swiatek was way more aggressive and played with a lot more intensity than before. She didn’t lose her serve for the rest of the match as Kostyuk struggled to win games in both the second and third sets.

Swiatek clinched the last two sets to win the match after two hours and 10 minutes. This was her third victory of the Canadian Open, and she has now reached the quarterfinals. She will be locking horns against Diana Shnaider next, who has reached the stage after stunning Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-3 in the Round of 16.

Swiatek has a 1-0 lead over Shnaider in the H2H record. Their only tour-level meeting came last year at the Madrid Open, where the Pole triumphed 6-0, 6-7, 6-4. It is expected to be a pretty evenly matched contest as Shnaider has been in great form ever since she reached the semifinals at the French Open.

The Russian trailed Pegula by 0-4 in the H2H record before their meeting in Toronto. But she unexpectedly defeated the World No. 3 in straight sets. Not to mention that Shnaider also defeated Anna Kalinskaya in the round of 32. She very well has the potential to cause another upset in the tournament by eliminating Swiatek.

Will Swiatek be able to continue her winning run at the Canadian Open, or will Shnaider stop her in her tracks? We will have to wait and see.

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