Swiatek’s loss is latest Aussie Open upset
Iga Swiatek’s No. 1 ranking, four Grand Slam titles and 18-match winning streak were no help against big-hitting teen Linda Noskova at the Australian Open.
After crouching at the baseline and covering her face when she closed out the 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 third-round victory over Swiatek on Saturday, the 50thranked Noskova said: “I didn’t really think that it would end up like this.”
Who possibly could have? Noskova, after all, is making her debut at the year’s first Grand Slam tournament and had only two match wins at all majors until a week ago.
Plus, it had been a quarter of a century since any teenager eliminated the
WTA’S No. 1 player at Melbourne Park (Amelie Mauresmo defeated Lindsay Davenport in 1999).
Then again, pedigree and past performance seem to mean little to nothing so far this year, setting up a Week 2 that features a bunch of new players and storylines.
“For sure,” Swiatek said, “I wish I could have played a little bit better.”
That’s been a familiar refrain. Even before Swiatek’s exit, only 12 seeded women reached the third round, equaling last year’s French Open for the fewest at a Slam since the 32-seed format was introduced in 2001.
“We have, like, a deep pool of players who can beat anybody on the given day. I think that’s what makes them more dangerous,” said Victoria Azarenka, a two-time champion in Melbourne. “The
consistency sometimes can be on and off. You don’t know which player you’re going to get on which day.”
The first three rounds were calmer for the men; Novak Djokovic led nine of the top 10 seeds safely through. (No. 8 Holger Rune lost to Arthur Cazaux, a 21year-old from France who is the first non-australian men’s wild-card entry in 30 years to get to the fourth round.)
Of the eight women left in the top half of the bracket, only Azarenka has been to a major final, and no one is currently in the Top 10. No. 12 Zheng Qinwen, a 21year-old from China, is the highest seed there.
Aside from that pair, along with Noskova and three-time major semifinalist Elina Svitolina, others who can make the final are Jasmine Paolini, Dayana Yastremska, Anna Kalinskaya and Oceane Dodin – a quartet who were 2363 in Grand Slam action before this fortnight.