Iga Świątek and Danielle Collins produced one of the tournament’s most entertaining matches so far at the Australian Open. The American played at an outstanding level and came close to eliminating the number 1 seed. 

Danielle Collins broke early on and got an unexpected 3-1 lead. She played aggressively, and it seemed Iga had no answer to her accuracy. However, the Pole broke back before sealing the first set (6-4). Collins remained relentless. The American broke in the second set and outplayed the world number 1 and equalised at one set all (6-3). 

In the third set, Collins not only broke Świątek, she also took a 4-1 lead. Shortly after, she was leading 4-2 and had no less than three break points at 0-40! After the match, Iga admitted that at that point, she “was already at the airport”. Indeed, Iga’s opponent was 5 points away from the win at that moment. However, the Varsovian somehow managed to win the next five games in a row and win a truly sensational battle that lasted for three hours. 

Just as Novak Djokovic the day before against Alexei Popyrin, it took Świątek experience, cold blood, and tremendous focus in clutch moments to cross the finish line first despite not always having been the better player on the court.

Polish had another good reasons to rejoice. On Wednesday, Magdalena Fręch upset the French and world number 19 Carolina Garcia in straight sets (6-4; 7-6). This win comes as a (good) surprise, given that not many observers game the Pole many chances against the former world number 4. 

At the moment of writing, Hubert Hurkacz is facing the Czech Jakub Menšík. So far, things are looking difficult as the giant Silesian lost the first set at the tie-break 11-9 after having had two set points. 

On the night from Thursday to Friday, Magdalena Fręch will play Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova for a place in the round of 16. Iga Świątek’s match against the Czech Linda Noskova is scheduled for the night from Friday to Saturday.  

Image: X (@AustralianOpen)

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen