Iga Swiatek experienced her first scare at the French Open after being forced to battle back from a set down against China’s Qinwen Zheng in the fourth round.
The world No.1 endured a frustrating start to her match before battling back to win 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2, and register her 32nd consecutive victory on the Tour. Swiatek’s skills were matched by an impressive Zheng early on as she failed to maintain her 5-2 lead. Then in the opening tiebreak the Pole once again had a 5-2 lead before losing five points in a row.
Swiatek’s wobble clearly frustrated her as she let out bursts of anger and glared towards her entourage in the crowd. However, she managed to regroup to claim victory but in somewhat unfortunate circumstances. Her opponent struggled with a right thigh injury as the match progressed and had a medical time out during the second set. Paving way for the top seed to win 12 out of the last 14 games.
“I tried to loosen up my hand a little bit. She played really good tennis with heavy topspins. The key in the second set was kind of not letting her do that again. I’m pretty happy that I could play a little bit faster and put pressure on her,” said Swiatek.
The 2020 champion admits that part of her mixed performance was linked to her mentality. Swiatek has spoken openly about the importance of her work with sports psychologist Daria Abramowiz. How she managed to turn it around was with the help of ‘singing in her mind.’ Or to be more specific singing Dua Lipa who Swiatek describes as her ‘guilty pleasure.’
“In the second set I just kind of wanted to focus more and not really talk to the (players) box that much. I speeded up my forehand a little bit. Maybe that was the solution. But I felt like my mind was a little bit more clear,” she reflected.
“I was kind of singing songs and I realized in the first set when I was really focusing on that technical stuff it didn’t really work because I got more and more tense when I couldn’t do that and why I couldn’t really prepare to the shot the best way. So I was singing in my mind, basically.”
It is only the sixth time Swiatek has dropped a set in a match since she began her winning run at the Doha Open in February. Furthermore, she had only dropped a total of 12 games in her three previous matches played at Roland Garros this year which is an example of her dominance on the Tour in recent weeks.
Nevertheless, being forced to come from behind to win served as a reminder to Swiatek how easy it is to lose the momentum she has spent weeks gathering. Although this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“I think it’s important that I had this kind of match which is kind of like a cold shower. It reminded me how to find these solutions after losing a first set,” she explains.
“I’m gonna take some positives from it. I think it’s going to give me a lot before the next matches.”
Swiatek will play Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals who she beat earlier this year in straight sets at the Miami Open. However, she has also previously lost to the American back in 2019 in Washington.
