Australian Open: Swiatek Survives Collins Scare, Moves On In Melbourne

Iga Swiatek, Australian Open
Iga Swiatek (photo: Tennis Australia/Vince Caligiuri)

MELBOURNE/WASHINGTON, January 18, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Danielle Collins had met once before at the Australian Open, when the American defeated Swiatek in the semifinals in 2022. Since then, Swiatek won their last three encounters – all coming last season – and carried that momentum into their second-round clash inside Rod Laver Arena on a rainy Thursday afternoon in Melbourne.

Coming in, both players beat a former Australian Open champion in the first round with Swiatek overcoming Sofia Kenin and Collins ousting Angelique Kerber. After splitting the first two sets, Collins raced to a double-break 4-1 lead. However, never count the four-time major winner out.

The Polish star went to work against the 62nd-ranked Collins – having won 66 of her last 67 matches against players outside the Top 50 – and erased the double-break deficit in a stunning comeback.

Finally, ahead 5-4, Swiatek closed out the three-hour, nine-minute 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 thriller on her third match point with a brilliant down-the-line, backhand passing shot winner that capped a dramatic 16-shot rally. It was the 36th — and arguably the biggest — winner Swiatek produced on the afternoon. It was also her seventh break of Collins’ serve in 15 opportunities and third of the decisive set.

“I wanted to fight until the end,” Swiatek told Andrea Petkovic in her on-court interview. “I knew she played perfectly but it would be hard for anybody to keep that level, so I wanted to be ready for if the mistakes would come from the other side.

“It wasn’t easy. I felt like I had the momentum going and then she started playing suddenly two times faster and I had no idea how to react to that for a couple of games. I came back, and I thought the only thing I could focus on was myself.”

Looking back, the Swiatek-Collins tussle resulted in a hard-fought match with just four points separating the two competitors. However, in the end, Swiatek walked off with her 18th consecutive victory — the second-longest streak in her career — and 17th career Melbourne triumph. She will be back on Saturday to oppose Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in the third round.

Swiatek celebrated with a big grin and signed the camera lens “Thriller!” 😀, while Collins walked off the court for the last time in Melbourne.

“I lost 6-4 in the third to one of the best players in the world, and she played some great tennis,” Collins told reporters. “Left it all on the court.”

Qualifier Timofeeva speechless after beating former AO champ Wozniacki

Russian qualifier Maria Timofeeva scored the biggest win of her young career in her Grand Slam debut, when she beat 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, in two hours and 21 minutes to reach the third round.

Maria Timofeeva, Australian Open

Maria Timofeeva (photo: Tennis Australia/Aaron Francis)

The World No. 170 Timofeeva recovered nicely from a rough first set as well as coming back from early service

breaks in both the second and third sets to win. She finished with 40 winners to 37 unforced errors, converted six of 13 break points and outpointed Wozniacki 98-91.

“I’m really a bit speechless now,” Timofeeva, 20, said in her on-court interview. “It was an honor for me to play here against Caroline today. Honestly, I was going [into] the match without any expectations, just to show what I’m capable of and see how the match goes, and it was really great. I enjoyed every second of it.”

While Timofeeva was playing in her first Grand Slam main draw, it was the 53rd for Wozniacki, whose 2018 run to the Melbourne crown remains her only major title, and second since coming out of retirement at last year’s US Open. Next, Timofeeva will oppose No. 10 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil in Friday’s third round.

Remembering Mike Dickson

Mike Dickson, 59, the dean of British tennis writers, passed away suddenly this week while covering the Australian Open for the Daily Mail of London. Tributes and condolences on social media were many.

One of Dickson’s contemporaries, retired New York Times tennis columnist Christopher Clarey, wrote: “Reeling from the news of Mike Dickson’s sudden passing during the Australian Open. Our #tennis writing community has taken some big blows in recent years. This is devastating. Mike was one of the savviest and best in our business. My heart goes out to all those he held dear.”

Our heart goes out to the Dickson family and to those who knew him best.

Around Melbourne Park

Thursday’s Australian Open results

Friday’s Australian Open order of play

By the numbers

Russia’s Karen Khachanov, a semifinalist in 2023, has reached the third round (or better) in Melbourne for the last five years. With his win over 101st-ranked qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States on Wednesday, the No. 15 seed Khachanov has won all eight matches he has played against qualifiers at the Grand Slams in his career. He also owns a 16-match Tour-level winning streak against qualifiers.

“Quotable …”

“There came a moment where things weren’t looking at my favor. There started to be a slight shift in the momentum, especially after that break when I was serving for the match. This really doesn’t happen very often. I haven’t had a lot of times in my career where I wasn’t able to close the match, especially when I was serving for it.

“For me the challenge there was to not break down. I feel like it would be easy to be the guy that becomes a victim of that. But I refused that to myself because I know deep inside that I’m way better than that, and I can handle situations, difficult situations, because of my past and the things that I went through.

“This might seem a mountain to a lot of people, but we’re back in equal play. I really executed my game plan tremendously and at the highest peak on the tiebreak, and I was able to keep it going on a very nice flow for me, especially when I got the early mini break in the tiebreaker. I really felt that inner power come out. It really showed in the next few points.”

– No. 7 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, during his post-match news conference after defeating Australian Jordan Thompson 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (4) Wednesday night, on his mindset at the end of the three-hour, 36-minute second-round match.

 

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