World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and men’s sixth seed Alexander Zverev yesterday both fought their way back from the brink of defeat to reach the third round of the Australian Open, a day of close shaves for top seeds at Melbourne Park.
Swiatek said she was mentally already at the airport when trailing Danielle Collins by two breaks in the third set, while Zverev was picking his flight out of Melbourne as he stood staring at defeat in four sets to qualifier Lukas Klein.
Pole Swiatek showed all the fight of a four-time Grand Slam champion as she rallied for a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory on Rod Laver Arena, while Zverev said that he was fortunate to prevail 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (9/7) over the Slovakian world No. 163.
Photo: AFP
A combination of rain interruptions and tight opening matches kept the list of completed matches at Melbourne Park empty until deep into the afternoon on day 5 of the championships.
Swiatek knew she was in for a potentially tricky contest in the opening match on Rod Laver Arena as world No. 62 Collins had beaten her in the semi-finals at Melbourne Park in 2022.
The 30-year-old American, who said after the match that she would be retiring this season, came out firing after losing the opening set and Swiatek needed her best tennis to overhaul a 4-1 deficit by rattling off the last five games in the third set.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Oh my god, honestly, I was already at the airport,” Swiatek said. “I didn’t feel like I had control over this match, [but] I wanted to fight till the end. I’m happy that I was solid and I just believed till the end.”
Collins said after the match that she wants to have children.
“This is going to be my last season, actually, competing,” she said. “I don’t really know exactly when, but this will be my last season and I’m really looking forward to that.”
Photo: AFP
“You know, I feel like I’ve had a pretty good career,” she said. “There has certainly been ups and downs to it, and I think the travel and some of the things away from the court with scheduling and all of that, this is a really tough sport.”
“I have other things that I’d kind of like to accomplish in my life outside of tennis, and would like to be able to kind of be able to have the time to be able to do that,” she said. “Obviously having kids is a big priority for me.”
Zverev said that Klein’s iron grip on their 4.5-hour contest, played mostly under the roof on John Cain Arena, had him plotting his journey back to Monte Carlo.
Photo: AFP
“I was thinking there’s a Qantas flight at 11pm tonight straight to Dubai and then one to home,” Zverev said. “A lot of the time I was a spectator in the match. I was just witnessing whether he’s going to hit a winner or miss.”
Women’s fifth seed Jessica Pegula bucked the trend by being unable to rally in her contest with France’s Clara Burel and the American crashed out 6-4, 6-2.
Casper Ruud, the men’s 11th seed, was also forced to battle hard for his place in the third round as he was taken to a fifth set tiebreak by local Max Purcell before winning 6-3, 6-7 (7/5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7).
The Dane next faces British 19th seed Cameron Norrie, who beat Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri 3-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
In the women’s doubles, all three Taiwanese playing at the tournament advanced, winning their first-round matches.
Wu Fang-hsien and partner Zhu Lin of China beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5); Chan Hao-ching and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico defeated US pair Asia Muhammad and Sofia Kenin 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5; and Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium ousted Belgian pair Yanina Wickmayer and Greet Minnen 6-2, 6-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer and AFP
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