By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Saturday, May 11, 2024
Iga Swiatek won five straight games stopping Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4, to reach the Rome round of 16.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Steering through a pressure-packed climax Iga Swiatek landed her 20th title in Madrid last Saturday.
Today, Swiatek tamed turbulence in Rome flying through a fierce finish.
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Down 1-4 in the second set, Swiatek soared through five straight games stopping Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4 into the Rome round of 16.
It was Swiatek’s eighth consecutive victory.
World No. 1 Swiatek raised her record to 32-4 as she continues her hunt for her fourth title of the season.
“Honestly, I knew I just had to get my focus together,” Swiatek said of her second-set comeback. “I know that I can play good tennis because I did in the first set.
“I just wanted to come back to being solid and work for the points. She’s really changing the rhythm so it’s not easy to play against her.”
Two-time Rome champion Swiatek saved four of five break points dispatching the feisty world No. 41 for the fourth time in as many meetings. Swiatek has now swept all eight sets from Putintseva.
Last Saturday, the top-seeded Swiatek saved three championship points dethroning defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7) in a pulsating three hour, 11-minute Mutua Madrid Open final that will go down as a clay classic.
Staring down a one break, 1-4 deficit today, Swiatek made a stand that spurred her through the finish line.
The reigning Roland Garros champion fought off four break points—-including slashing a forehand winner down the line to save the fourth—in a draining six-deuce game.
When the dust settled from that punishing game, Swiatek held for 2-4 then dropped the hammer on the crafty Kazakh.
Swiatek stormed through 16 of the last 19 points, pounding Putintseva from the baseline to score a one hour, 46-minute victory.
Empowered by her run to her 20th career title last weekend, Swiatek is bidding to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2013 to sweep Madrid and Rome championships in succession.
"Winning next match is on my radar," Swiatek said when asked about joining Serena and Dinara Safina in completing the rare Madrid-Rome clay crown sweep. "As usual, taking everything step by step is the best way to go. There's still a long way.
"Yeah, I need to focus on what I need to focus on. But obviously it's hard to win these tournaments, especially when you don't have time to really get used to the conditions if you play well in Madrid."
The 22-year-old Swiatek has dropped just nine games in two tournament wins. Afterward, Swiatek credited point-by-point focus for her second-set comeback.
“ I tried to use it on every match so I think consistency you need to kind of work on everything,” Swiatek said. “Physicality, tennis-wise and mentally I’m doing my best to stay focused on every match and not take everything for granted.
"So I’m ready, for each tournament, to play the best tennis every day.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion will face either three-time major winner Angelique Kerber or Aliaksandra Sasnovich for a quarterfinal spot.
But first, Swiatek had an assignment to complete: She was pumped to watch her friend and sometime mixed doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz take on “the only idol I ever had in my life” Rafael Nadal on Court Centrale.