Iga Swiatek admitted it ‘means a lot’ to have battled back against Elena Rybakina as she moved into the Roland Garros quarter-finals.
The four-time champion was blown away in the first set and a bit but came back from 6-1 2-0 down to defeat Elena Rybakina 1-6 6-3 7-5.
It was a 25th consecutive victory for Swiatek at Roland Garros as she moved into another quarter-final in Paris.
After a poor last month or two, it felt extra sweet for Swiatek who’s title defence now continues.
Speaking after her win Swiatek admitted it meant a lot and praised her problem solving in the contest, “Yeah, it means a lot. I think I needed that kind of win to like feel these feelings that I’m able to win under pressure, and even if it’s not going the right way, you know, still turn the match around to win it,” Swiatek told her press conference.
“For sure it’s a great confirmation for me. Yeah, I for sure wanted to have a match like that. Obviously it’s great to also have full control over the match, but against great players, it’s not always going to be possible.
“Well, as I said, it’s a great confirmation for me that I can handle the pressure and everything, but honestly, I wasn’t expecting to have an easy score against Elena. I also had an easy score against her, but losing, you know, because she’s a great player.
“So for sure that wasn’t something that I even considered today. Yeah, no matter what the score is, I’m going to just try to play the best tennis possible any minute. It doesn’t really matter, honestly, but for sure, as I said, it’s great to overcome some challenges during the match.
“I’m happy that I fought, and I also problem-solved on court.”
It was an important win for Swiatek who is seeking a fifth title at Roland Garros and a sixth Grand Slam title overall.
However, things were looking bleak after a while for Swiatek as she was facing a thrashing from the Kazakh.
In her press conference Swiatek praised her fighting abilities but doesn’t see the situation as a complete positive, “Well, honestly it’s not like I’m super positive because I know what’s going on, and I also know that it might be hard, but it doesn’t change the fact that I still, like, fight for every ball,” Swiatek explained.
“I’m also aware that and I also feel that when I play and I have this kind of scoreline, that it’s not so easy to keep this level. So I just know that I need to be ready when the opportunity arrives and if she’s going to let me back a little bit, or if I’m going to change something to actually be able to play a little bit more of my game, then I need to have my head clear enough to use it and to be there, you know.
“So that’s it. That’s why, yeah, I just kept playing, and that’s it. I was already feeling pretty bad. I kind of accepted that the match can — I can lose it, but it didn’t change the fact that I wanted to fight for it anyway.”
Next up in the quarter-finals for Swiatek is Elina Svitolina with their head-to-head at 3-1 to the Pole with Swiatek winning their only meeting this year in Miami.
