World number one Iga Swiatek turned around a first-set deficit to beat Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-6 (3) 6-1 and book her place in the semi-finals of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Swiatek, the French Open champion, had trailed Vondrousova 5-4 in the opening set, but rallied to break back at 5-5 β only for both players to lose their next service games which brought up a tie-break.
Having taken that 7-3 with two more crucial mini-breaks, Swiatek maintained her momentum in the second set.
Swiatek π€ semifinals @iga_swiatek defeats Vondrousova to advance to her first semi in Cincy! #Cincytennis pic.twitter.com/INCUB5PnBP
β wta (@WTA) August 18, 2023
An early break and hold saw Swiatek lead 2-0 and she never relinquished control, closing out the match with two more breaks to complete the turnaround in one hour and 33 minutes.
βAt the beginning, it wasnβt easy to get used to her lefty spin, but Iβm happy that I kind of played better and better throughout the whole match. At the end, I was really solid,β the Pole said on the WTA Tour website.
βI made good decisions and chose the right solutions to win these points. I think she also kind of made some mistakes. The most important (thing) is to use your opportunity and Iβm happy that I did that.β
A third WTA 1000 semifinal πΊπΈ@CocoGauff moves past Paolini 6-3, 6-2 to set a showdown with Swiatek!#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/IP4XzKc7jl
β Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) August 18, 2023
Swiatek goes on to face Coco Gauff after the American eased past Italian qualifier Jasmine Paolini 6-3 6-2.
The 19-year-old will be hoping to make the most of the support of the home crowd when she faces the world number one β having not taken a set off Swiatek in their past seven meetings.
French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova also advanced to the semi-finals after Marie Bouzkova was forced to retire following three games of their match.
She will meet Aryna Sabalenka in the final four, after the second seed endured a back-and-forth affair to eclipse fifth seed Ons Jabeur 7-5 6-3.