Iga Swiatek battles past Elena Rybakin in Ostrava

Iga Swiatek has continued to play at the Ostrava Open as the Polish player booked a spot in the semifinal. She did so by defeating Elena Rybakina in straight sets with the two sets being polar opposites. The first set opened with Swiatek playing better as Rybakina struggled with her rhythm. She was catching balls off rhythm and many ended out or in the net.

Swiatek had a 3-1 lead but Rybakina came back furious to take a 4-3 lead. After that, both settled in nicely with Swiatek having more chances than Rybakina as she was returning better. The Polish player served better than Rybakina early and that proved key in the tiebreak as she was able to win several players with ease. Another unforced error sealed the set for Swiatek 7-5 in the tiebreak.

The 2nd set was completely different as Rybakina played a lot worse than in the first set. Errors plagued her throughout the set and Swiatek returns troubled her all day. The Polish player was able to return the ball very deep which troubled the tall Rybakina. She was especially vulnerable on her 2nd serve with Swiatek demonstrating her tremendous shot-making ability.

Swiatek was serving for the mathc at 5-1 but ultimately closed it out with 6-3 to move to the semifinal. A great match with Iga deserveadly moving on.