Swiatek tightens her game to go past Kostyuk

Iga Swiatek lost the opening set but dropped just three games in the final two of a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Marta Kostyuk which put the former No. 1 into the quarter-finals on Saturday of the Toronto Masters.

Victory by the seven-time grand Slam champion Pole ended a minor loss streak for Swiatek, who had lost her last seven three-set matches against Top 20 players dating back to last September.

The seventh seed quickly turned her luck in the second and third sets after dropping the first, with Swiatek losing just two more games on her return to the last eight at the event she won in 2022.

It was her first win over a top 20 opponent since Rome last May.

“I knew I could play better,” Swiatek said  of her opening-set disappointment.

“In the second I came out … playing a bit faster and more heavy, and pushing Marta a little bit more,

“I knew I can keep being solid while doing that. So then, like, game by game I felt like it was a good plan and a good choice, and I went for it.”

Kostyuk had won her previous seven three-set matches before taking the Swiatek defeat.

Swiatek added: “Marta is playing great now,she’s in a good place winning many matches.

“I needed to step up and I did that.

“Probably one of the best matches of the season for me.”