Iga Swiatek’s discontent continues with surprising loss
The spring of Iga Swiatek’s discontent continues as the Polish tennis star was unexpectedly ousted by Danielle Collins in the third round of the Italian Open in Rome on Saturday. The result stunned fans, especially given Swiatek’s strong record on Rome’s clay courts.
Collins claimed a 6-1, 7-5 win over the World No. 2, a result that seemed unlikely on paper. After all, Collins had lost seven of their previous eight meetings. Plus, Swiatek had an impressive 21-1 record on Rome’s clay, winning the tournament three times in the last four years.
However, this season has been a struggle for Swiatek. Since her victorious run at last year’s French Open, where she secured her fourth Grand Slam title in Paris, she has yet to win another tournament. With the new rankings set to be released Monday, she is expected to drop from No. 2 to as low as No. 4.
Swiatek had held a top-two ranking since March 2022. But this year, she has already suffered nine losses, matching her total defeats from the entire 2023 season when she went 64-9.
Collins draws from past matches to upset Swiatek
After the match, Collins credited her experience playing Swiatek multiple times as key to her victory. “Obviously, I played against Iga so many times,” Collins said. “When you play that many close matches and also play your best tennis and lose — you learn a lot.”
Collins’ last win over Swiatek was memorable too, as she beat the Polish star in straight sets to reach the 2022 Australian Open final.
During Saturday’s match, Collins fired 32 winners and committed only 15 unforced errors. Swiatek, on the other hand, managed 15 winners but had 22 errors. Collins also capitalized on six of her eight break chances, while Swiatek converted only two out of ten.
Reflecting on her current form, Swiatek admitted, “It hasn’t been easy. For sure, I’m doing something wrong. So I need to just regroup and change some stuff.”
This victory marked Collins’ first Top 10 win in over a year and her third against a World No. 2 player, previously defeating Angelique Kerber in 2019 and Ashleigh Barty in 2021.
Upcoming matches and more surprises in Rome
In the fourth round, Collins will face No. 16 Elina Svitolina from Ukraine, who defeated Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Meanwhile, No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula fell to No. 25 Elise Mertens of Belgium in a 7-5, 6-1 upset. Mertens dominated with 19 winners to Pegula’s 11 and converted all four break points while saving seven of eight. She also improves her head-to-head record against Pegula to 4-1.
Mertens is set to meet No. 13 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia, who beat Jaqueline Cristian 6-3, 6-3.
In another big upset, American Peyton Stearns came from behind to defeat No. 5 Madison Keys 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3). Keys lost serve twice in the tiebreaker, while Stearns held hers. Stearns will now face unseeded Naomi Osaka of Japan, who rallied to beat Marie Bouzkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Lastly, No. 6 Jasmine Paolini from Italy overcame No. 27 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-4, 6-3. Paolini’s next opponent will be No. 17 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who advanced due to a walkover against Germany’s Laura Siegemund.