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Swiatek advances to women's singles semifinals at Australian Open

Sports Scene

Iga Swiatek of Poland hits a shot against Emma Navarro of the USA in a women's singles quarterfinal match at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, January 22, 2025. /VCG
Iga Swiatek of Poland hits a shot against Emma Navarro of the USA in a women's singles quarterfinal match at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, January 22, 2025. /VCG

Iga Swiatek of Poland hits a shot against Emma Navarro of the USA in a women's singles quarterfinal match at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, January 22, 2025. /VCG

Iga Swiatek of Poland booked her second trip to Australian Open semifinals with another spectacular display, after mowing down eighth seed Emma Navarro of the USA 6-1, 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday.

Swiatek will face another American in Madison Keys, who overhauled Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Searching for her first Grand Slam title, Keys will be hard-pressed to dig deeper than Swiatek, who has crushed all five of her opponents at this year's first major tournament, and is the only woman in the last four to avoid dropping a set.

A throbbing ball of energy from the first point to the last, Poland's five-time Grand Slam champion broke Navarro to love in the first game and was not prepared to concede a point even when good sportsmanship might have warranted it.

In the fifth game of the second set, and under pressure on serve, Swiatek bolted forward to retrieve a drop that bounced twice before her racket scooped it up.

Play went on, though, with Swiatek taking both the point and the game with a passing shot, leaving Navarro to remonstrate fruitlessly with the chair umpire.

Having not stopped the rally to dispute the non-call, Navarro had no recourse to challenge after the fact, and Swiatek was not about to give the U.S. Open semifinalist a break.

"I didn't see the replay after this point because ... I wanted to stay focused and didn't want this point to stay in my head for a longer period of time," Swiatek told reporters.

Most eyes have been focused on the top half of the women's draw, where title favorite and two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka booked a semifinal match with Paula Badosa on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, it may be the free-swinging Swiatek in pole position for the title, having surrendered only 14 games in her five matches so far.

Source(s): Reuters
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