“Stressed” world No.1 Iga Swiatek is striving for larger consistency forward of this month’s Australian Open after taking longer than anticipated to get rid of Martina Trevisan within the United Cup’s Brisbane ultimate on Wednesday.
With her Polish crew trailing 1-0 after Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti’s straight units demolition of Daniel Michalski at Pat Rafter Arena, Swiatek responded to beat Trevisan 6-2, 6-4.
However, the match ended up being a lot more durable for Swiatek than the scoreline advised.
Having cruised via the primary set in simply 34 minutes, Swiatek admitted she discovered it robust to shut out the competition as world No.27 Trevisan – buoyed by chants of “Italia” from the gang – discovered a brand new degree.
Trevisan’s battle and dedication ensured the second set lasted 77 minutes, with Swiatek compelled to avoid wasting three break factors and in a ultimate rally that lasted 18 photographs when serving for the match.
“It was stressful,” mentioned the 21-year-old Polish star, who completed the match with 32 unforced errors, together with 23 within the second set.
For Swiatek, who earlier this week after beating Swiss star Belinda Bencic admitted she was a “perfectionist”, that wasn’t ok.
“In my subsequent match, my aim goes to be extra constant and to maintain the identical degree of tennis till the top,:” she said.
“(But) I’m p[pretty happy that even though Martina came back and played a really good second set I was able to finish it.
“Martina had her chances as well and it felt like she could give it all because I was the one that was leading.
“I don’t know how you guys do it when you watch tennis, but it was tough.
“I’m just happy that we are here – today is a pretty special day.”
Earlier, Italy stormed to a 1-0 lead in the tie when world No.23 Musetti thrashed Michalski 6-1, 6-1 in just 57 minutes.
Then mismatch was obvious from the start, Michalski, ranked 237 places lower than his opponent, being outclassed by the far superior Musetti, who dropped just three points on serve for the entire match.
“The serve worked really good, but every shot, I had a great feeling,” Musetti said.
“Today I was moving really fast with my feet. That’s a key part of my game, and today I was on fire from that side (of my game), so I could manage the match in a positive way.”
Musetti also said he had “positive vibes” for the year ahead, with his goals including breaking into the world’s top 10.
“Last season was a nice experience for me because I won my first title – I’m feeling good,” he said.
