Even as Iga Swiatek has consolidated her position at the top of women’s tennis over the past few years, sweeping up significant titles on hard and clay courts alike, she has struggled to back up her success at some of the biggest tournaments in the world. While she has built an all-time great era of dominance at Roland Garros, winning four of the last five tournaments in Paris, Swiatek had also gone two seasons without making a semi-final in Melbourne, London or New York.
This week at the Australian Open, things have come together at last. Swiatek will battle Madison Keys for a spot in the final after the Polish No 2 seed dismantled the eighth seed Emma Navarro 6-1, 6-2 to continue her dominant run in Melbourne. Earlier on Wednesday, Keys maintained her own excellent form at the start of the season with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over 27th seed Elina Svitolina.
In her first tournament alongside her new coach, Wim Fissette, Swiatek has now matched her best result at the Australian Open, which she achieved in 2022. She is yet to drop a set this year in Melbourne and she has lost just 14 games overall, half of those games coming in her 6-3, 6-4 first round win over Katerina Siniakova. In the 21st century, only Maria Sharapova in 2013 has conceded fewer games en-route to the Australian Open semis.
“I wasn’t going so deep in grand slams so much, except Roland Garros. For sure now I’m happy that I’m kind of playing my level here,” said Swiatek. “Last year my journey here finished in the fourth and third round, so for sure I feel more confident now.”
In her third consecutive grand slam quarter-final, Navarro represented a step up in quality for Swiatek, who had not yet faced a top 40 opponent. However, while the American defended well, elongated rallies and forced her opponent to work hard for each point, Swiatek dictated the entire match with her far greater weight of shot, pairing her aggression with patience and composure for a comfortable win.
“This is something that I always wanted to improve,” said Swiatek on her performances in Australia. “I know that every week is going to be different, a different story. But for sure this year I felt like I should just focus on work and kind of have the same mindset as on practices: just improving point by point. It has been working. It’s not like I need to prove it to other people. It’s more that I need to kind of believe. I feel I believe more now.”
The match included a controversial call at 2-2 in the second set as Swiatek chased down a drop shot from Navarro before ending the point with a backhand winner. Subsequent replays, however, showed the ball had bounced twice before Swiatek reached Navarro’s drop shot. Video review technology is available at the Australian Open but because Navarro continued the point, she was not allowed to go back and change it.
Afterwards, Navarro declined to blame Swiatek for the missed call and said it did not have any bearing on the match. However, she believes that it should be possible to challenge judgement calls at the end of a rally:
“I think it should be allowed to see after the point even if you play,” she said. “It happened so fast. You hit the shot, and she hits it back, and you’re just, like, ‘Oh, I guess I’m playing.’ In the back of your head you’re, like, ‘OK, maybe I can still win the point even though it wasn’t called. It’s going to be a downer if I stop the point and it turns out it wasn’t a double bounce.’ Yeah, it’s tough. I think we should be able to see it afterwards and make that call.”
Keys, meanwhile, has started the year performing at an exceptional level and she is now on a 10-match winning streak after winning in Adelaide Open the week before the Australian Open. Her victory over Svitolina also marks her seventh grand slam semi-final and her third in Melbourne, 10 years after her first. Keys’s best grand slam result came in 2017 when she reached the US Open final, losing to her close friend Sloane Stephens.
“I think I play a little bit smarter, for sure. Probably a little bit less fearless though,” said Keys of her development. “To be here, 10 years later in the semi-finals again, I’m really proud of myself and really excited to play another semi-final in Melbourne.”
