Iga Swiatek on Wednesday dropped four points in a row in her US Open quarter-final against Jessica Pegula by missing shots, some wildly. So with Pegula up by a break at 3-2 and serving at 30-love, Swiatek walked over to the sideline in the middle of a game to swap out her white racket for another one.
The Arthur Ashe Stadium roof was open, the air was as cool and dry as it has been during a hot, humid tournament, and Swiatek figured maybe she should try a tighter string tension to see whether that would help control the ball a little more.
Whether that actually did the trick, or simply put Swiatek’s mind at ease, the move certainly swung the direction of the match.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The No. 1-ranked Swiatek grabbed 14 of the next 15 points and, while closing things out was not easy, she reached her first semi-final at Flushing Meadows by pulling out a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Pegula.
“I don’t know if it actually was the key or something,” Swiatek said after a match filled with a combined 13 breaks of serve, 10 in the second set alone. “For sure, I wasn’t thinking about the strings [anymore], and I just focused on the right stuff after the change.”
When play resumed, Swiatek popped up a short return that floated toward Pegula, who rushed a backhand swinging volley that landed out.
That was followed by three forehand errors in a row by world No. 8 Pegula.
“I started missing everything for literally the rest of the set,” Pegula said between sips from a can of beer. “It was definitely a huge momentum change. I think it helped her a lot. So it was a good move by her.”
Swiatek faces No. 6 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals after the Belarusian beat Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-6 (7/4).
The other women’s singles semi-final is No. 5 Ons Jabeur against No. 17 Caroline Garcia.
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