Tauson upsets Swiatek at NBO

Having already beaten Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys on hard courts, the Dane upended Wimbledon winner Iga Swiatek 7-6 (1), 6-3 at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers to reach the quarter-finals in Montreal. 

Tauson’s potent ball striking has been talked about for years, ever since she starred in the juniors. The power was certainly there against Swiatek but so, too, was the 22-year-old’s finesse and scrambling when needed. Tauson had lost all three of her previous matches against the six-time Grand Slam champion.

“Getting a win against her after losing to her in Wimbledon a couple of weeks ago is obviously nice, because I was not feeling great in that match, and I felt like I was playing some good tennis in Wimbledon,” said Tauson. “So, I felt like if I could keep that going, I thought I had a shot.”

Swiatek might have thought the encounter turned in her favour when she broke to stay in the first set. 

However, the Pole struggled in the tiebreaker, which isn’t necessarily a surprise glancing at her record in tiebreakers this season. She dropped to 4-7. 

“For sure in the tiebreaker I just made too many mistakes. In the second set I felt that Clara went up there with momentum and I didn’t really problem solve enough, and for sure I did too many mistakes from balls that I could play,” said Swiatek.  

Maybe playing a foe with a fearsome forehand prompted Swiatek to go for more at times with her own forehand.  Tauson, though, had the better of it. Of Swiatek’s 46 unforced errors, 25 came on the forehand. 

The forehands were prominent when Tauson earned the opening break of the second set for 3-1, minutes after her half-volley pickup had jaws dropping. 

At 15-all, Swiatek followed up a fine first serve with a crunching forehand cross court winner. If it wasn’t her fastest of the match, it had to be right up there. 

What did Tauson do on the next point? She stepped in and lashed a forehand return on a second serve that seemed to be even faster than Swiatek’s strike. 

As the 1-on-1 duel in the game continued, Swiatek injected pace on two more forehands yet missed them both into the net. 

Swiatek couldn’t believe it when Tauson’s looping forehand touched the back of the baseline by a whisker at 4-2. However, she broke for 3-4, only to double fault twice in the ensuing game. 

She couldn’t break back again.

Was there a mental hangover after Wimbledon for Swiatek? She suggested there wasn’t. Instead, it was more about finding her hard-court game. 

“For sure it’s not like I played perfectly here,” said Swiatek. “I still feel like I kind of need to transition on hard courts. And these matches are also kind of to learn again. I feel like I did kind of the same mistakes I did at the end of my hard court season in March.”

Tauson next meets a baseliner with serious pace like herself in Keys. Tauson was the lone player to beat Keys for a few months, downing the American in Auckland in January prior to Keys going on a 16-match winning streak that included the Australian Open title. 

Tauson expressed her joy in seeing Keys triumph, noting her persistence after many thought the American’s chances of winning a major were over as she approached 30. 

A few weeks post Melbourne, Tauson made the WTA 1000 final in Dubai, where she toppled Sabalenka on the hard courts. 

“I think I'm getting more confidence in this kind of level and feeling like I belong here a bit more,” said Tauson. “I think that really helped me today in the important moments.”

Svitolina’s fine form continues 

Elina Svitolina sprung her own upset in the second night match at Centre Court, overcoming the player Swiatek beat in the Wimbledon final, Amanda Anisimova, 6-4, 6-1. 

Svitolina, an NBO champion in 2017, now has three wins a row over Anisimova. The no. 10 seed saved eight of nine break points, including three big ones at 3-3 in the first. 

Svitolina hasn’t lost a set ahead of her quarter-final with her fellow mom, Naomi Osaka. 

Photo: Mathieu Bélanger