Iga Swiatek claims there is ‘no sense to talk about the sunshine double’ yet
Iga Swiatek has survived her third round match at the Miami Open against Linda Noskova, but the world No.1 does not want to contemplate the sunshine double just yet.
Swiatek won her second Indian Wells title last week without dropping a set, but had to come from behind against the Czech teenager last night.
Noskova had beaten Swiatek at the Australian Open in January, but the result was reversed in Indian Wells last week.
And the four-time major winner survived the threat of Noskova once again, beating the 19-year-old 6(7)-7 6-4 6-4.
This scare has made Swiatek dismiss any talks of the sunshine double, “As you can see, it’s not like we can take everything for granted. You can be in trouble at the early stages of the tournament. No sense to talk about sunshine double.
“For sure, I’m taking just experience from this match and I know what I have to focus on little bit more, because it wasn’t like I felt 100 percent comfortable all the time. I mean, I thought it’s going to be easier to get used to the new conditions and new balls, but it’s been tricky today.”
Swiatek is currently bidding to become only the second woman to complete multiple sunshine double’s, looking to join Steffi Graf who completed the feat in 1994 and 1996.
The 22-year-old explained that she is going to use this match to help progress through the tournament, “You know that I’m an over-thinker. Usually the best tactic for me is to let it go.
“I want to use this experience. I’m pretty sure tomorrow I’m going to do that if everything goes well. Usually also these kinds of things just settle in my head on their own. I’m just going to trust that it’s going to be like that again.”
3 – Since 2021, it is the third time Iga Swiatek hit 50+ unforced errors in a WTA-1000 match. Swiatek has now won all three matches after wins – Barbora Krejcikova (83, Rome R16 2021) and Karolina Muchova (53, Montreal R16 2023). Battle.#MiamiOpen | @MiamiOpen @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/vTyTZjsQJo
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 25, 2024
There is little rest for Swiatek, who will play against 14th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round of the Miami Open this evening.
Inside the baseline…
Iga Swiatek does seem to struggle against hard-hitters that do not allow her to utilise her strengths as much. However, it is always a good sign when someone does not play their best tennis and still manages to come through against a very tricky opponent in Linda Noskova. Swiatek has a better recent record against her next opponent Ekaterina Alexandrova, beating the Russian at the Qatar Open last month.
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