Iga Swiatek edged past Sorana Cirstea 5-7 6-3 6-3 in 2 and a half hours to reach her first Australian Open Quarter-Final.
The former Roland Garros champion survived a mammoth match against a powerful Cirstea to reach the last eight in Melbourne for the first time.
Swiatek was emotional after the match as she revealed the stress was bigger than her previous matches.
The Pole awaits Aryna Sabalenka or Kaia Kanepi in the last eight.
It was the Romanian who had the more aggressive start as she powered returns past Swiatek and tested the Pole’s defensive skills in the early exchanges.
After a valiant effort from Swiatek, Cirstea eventually broke and gained an early 2-0 lead.
The Pole had to save break point with some big serving and powerful groundstrokes to avoid the double break deficit.
However once Swiatek found her rhythm, she started to anticipate the Romanian’s power plays better and create space on the court for more aggressive tennis of her own.
Cirstea played big tennis on the big points as she save three break points in the fourth game for a crucial 3-1 lead.
Swiatek gained more consistent power and variety as the set went on with the former Roland Garros champion becoming more comfortable on serve.
Eventually the Pole’s mixture of defensive solidity and consistent, regular power earned its rewards as she broke back for 4-4 in the opening set.
However that didn’t intimidate the Romanian, who had already beaten Petra Kvitova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at this tournament, as she continued to pound the winners on return.
Cirstea’s improved aggression especially on the big points continued to pay off as she saved set point in the tenth game to hold before breaking to love to seal a 6-5 lead.
Too many errors from Swiatek who couldn’t match the physical game style of Cirstea as the Romanian closed out the opening set 7-5.
In the second Swiatek and Cirstea traded breaks as the Pole was beginning to play smart tennis and trying to expose the Romanian’s short balls whenever they came.
The Pole’s unique offense took advantage of Cirstea’s relatively conservative second serves and on her third break point broke for a 4-2 lead in a long game.
Despite the consistent power from the Romanian there was no clinical edge to her game in the second set as Swiatek won all the big points to level the match at one set all.
This physical and mental rollercoaster of a match would have plenty more twists and turns yet as both players produced red-hot tennis in the deciding set.
Arguably the game that decided the match was the fourth game where Cirstea used a lot of energy to power past Swiatek’s stubborn defence and push for the break.
Swiatek’s resilience was crucial as she saved four break points to hold for 2-2. The Pole would then break for a 3-2 lead as Cirstea’s serve was not as effective as the opening two sets.
Although Cirstea broke back, Swiatek’s returning was at a higher level and her all-court power saw her reel off two consecutive breaks to love to seal a crucial win.
Tears from Swiatek at the end as relief and emotion was a result of a mentally and physically demanding match that takes her to a first Australian Open quarter-final. After the match the Pole admitted it was a stressful match, “I feel like she was really putting pressure on, returning in front of the baseline she was playing as fast as my serve was. I just had to be on my toes,” the Pole said in her on-court interview.
“I feel that my stress level was higher than the previous. For me a week without crying is not a week!”
Swiatek will now play second seed Aryna Sabalenka or Kaia Kanepi in the last eight on Wednesday.
