Rome Open: Iga Swiatek and Karolina Pliskova to vie for Roma crown
Iga Swiatek and Karolina Pliskova will play the final of the Rome Open on Sunday. While Pliskova halted the run of Petra Martic in their semi-final, Swiatek played – and won – two matches to make it to the last round in the Italian capital.
The ninth-seeded Czech defeated the Croatian 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 six minutes shy of the two-hour mark. This is Pliskova’s third straight final in the tournament. Of the two previous finals she’s made here, she won the title in 2019 but lost to Simona Halep in 2020.
Speaking with the press post-match, Pliskova said, “I think the first and third set, they were super solid for me, playing the game I want to play, not really going for crazy shots, but super solid. Quite good serve today. I think it was a good match.”
Then, talking about playing the final, she added, “I hope I will feel better, and maybe more relaxed a bit, to go to the other tournaments in the next couple weeks, months, with this kind of result. With having the matches, I had this week, overcoming some situations which I had this week, and beating some players: Martic, for example, I never beat on clay. For sure this gives me some strength.”
Rome Open: Iga Swiatek's ranking milestone on the frayPliskova’s final opponent, the 15th seeded Pole, first upset fifth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-final. The 2020 French Open titlist pocketed a 6-2, 7-5 win. In the semi-final, Swiatek ousted fellow teenager Coco Gauff 7-6(3), 6-3.
“I'm still kind of pumped up, so it's hard to say because adrenaline is still here. I'm still pretty young so hopefully, I'm going to be ready for tomorrow. I think so,” Swiatek said, in her post-match press conference. “I felt really good today; it's a big difference between my previous matches and today. I was able to beat Elina, so that shows that my game is here, I'm ready for anyone. It gave me a real confidence boost.”
Iga Swiatek will reach a new career-high of no. 9 in the world if she wins the Rome Open title. However, if she were to lose the final, she will still make a breakthrough in the ranking at the 11th place.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3buEr66
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