From a set down, Swiatek wins 12 of last 14 games vs. Sakkari in Cincinnati
No. 7 seed Iga Swiatek came from a set down against frequent rival and No. 29 seed Maria Sakkari to continue her Cincinnati Open title defense, advancing 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to the fourth round in 1 hour and 58 minutes.
Swiatek improved to 6-4 overall against Sakkari, and 6-1 since the start of 2022. Her lone loss to the Greek player in that timeframe came in this year's Doha quarterfinals.
However, the former World No. 1 has seen an uptick in form during this year's Hard-Court Swing. She snapped an 11-month title drought to claim the Toronto title last week, and has now extended her winning streak to eight matches. Swiatek will next face Diane Parry, who defeated Lois Boisson 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in an all-French third-round derby. No. 66-ranked Parry advanced to the last 16 at WTA 1000 level or above for the third time in her career, following Indian Wells 2024 and Roland Garros 2026.
Swiatek and Parry have played once before, with Swiatek winning 6-1, 6-1 in the second round of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Swiatek's comeback by the numbers
"It's hard to analyze it, honestly," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "I felt like I was playing quite good in the first set, sometimes just lacked precision. Played too much to Maria, and she used the opportunities. She was playing faster than me, I feel like, or deeper. I really wanted to start pushing her so she doesn't get so many opportunities to push me, so I'm happy that in the second set it started working and I played a bit better. She started making mistakes, and I knew the momentum changed a little bit and it was time to push."
Swiatek may have found the match hard to analyze, but a few key statistics are illuminating.
Neither player was at their best off the ground in the first set -- Swiatek committed 17 unforced errors and Sakkari 13, both outweighing their winner tally. The Greek player, however, served brilliantly. She fired five aces, two when serving the set out, and did not face a break point -- the first time this season that Swiatek has failed to generate a break point in a single set.
Two double faults from Swiatek in the opening game of the second set seemed ominous for the Pole -- but she gritted out a hold, and with it the momentum shift that she mentioned. It was as absolute as it was sudden: over the second and third sets, Sakkari committed 26 unforced errors while striking just a single winner (when 4-0 down in the decider).
Meanwhile, Swiatek kept her game watertight - she tallied 13 winners to 20 unforced errors in the last two sets, a similar ratio to her first-set numbers -- and, once she had saved two break points to lead 3-0 in the second set, did not face another for the rest of the contest.
