Assuming the gulf in class is not unbridgeable, there is a moment in every tennis match, even one as ostensibly one-sided as the 6-1, 6-1 beatdown Iga Swiatek handed Camila Giorgi at the Miami Open on Saturday evening, when the tide could turn. It is the juncture at which losers become winners; where lopsided contests become close; where momentum shifts and unlikely possibilities emerge. Seize such an opportunity, and things can change quickly; squander it, and the significance of the moment will be forever lost.
To take a famous example, imagine if Roger Federer had missed the inside-out forehand that denied Tommy Haas the opportunity to serve for a straight-sets win at Roland Garros in 2009. That was the year Rafael Nadal suffered a shock fourth-round defeat to Robin Soderling, gifting Federer, who had lost the previous three finals to the great Spaniard, with a priceless opportunity. Had the Swiss not capitalised, there would have been no career grand slam, and posterity would have remembered him as the finest clay-court player never to have won the French Open. Instead, serving at two sets to love down and 3-4, 30-40, Federer kissed the sideline with the most audacious of winners, and the rest is history. He would later call it the most important shot of his career.
The stakes weren’t quite of that magnitude for Giorgi as she belatedly began to find her range against Swiatek. But six double faults had left the Italian trailing by a double break with only 21 minutes gone and, given that the Polish world No 1 came into the match unbeaten in her previous 70 outings at WTA 1000 level after winning the first set, the need for action was clear. Currently ranked 108 but once a top-30 player, Giorgi has the game to trouble anyone when the mood takes her – and for the next 10 minutes, that is precisely what happened.
For that, Swiatek herself was partly to blame. Three consecutive missed forehands from the four-time grand slam champion handed Giorgi some much needed breathing space, and the 32-year-old got her side of the scoreboard moving with an ace. Suddenly, Giorgi had the bit between her teeth. With her groundstrokes acquiring fresh length and penetration, Italian slammed winners off either wing. In a trice, Giorgi had pocketed seven out of eight points and Swiatek was 0-40 down; the Pole had the lead, but Giorgi had the momentum.
At this point, a familiar narrative heaved into view: the one where Swiatek is rushed into error by a powerful opponent playing the kind of first-strike, hell-for-leather tennis that can push her off the baseline and sow doubts in her mind. Giorgi is a streaky player but, as her Canadian Open victory of 2021 demonstrated, she is quite capable of holding her own at this level when courage meets consistency. This was Giorgi’s chance, her window of opportunity – and the manner in which Swiatek slammed it shut, arresting the Italian’s impetus and re-establishing her own, highlighted many of the qualities that underpin her pre-eminence.
There was the tactical wit that saw Swiatek take the pace off a first serve, eliciting a short return from which she was able to rifle a winner. There was the athletic defending that kept the Pole alive long enough, in a rally where she was second best from start to finish, for Giorgi to go long. There was the smart body serve that carried her to deuce, and another bold flourish when she faced a fourth break point, a heavy crosscourt forehand that Giorgi barely reached.
Above all, though, it was Swiatek’s focus and composure that shone through. It is easy to underestimate those virtues, yet they are the foundation of her success. All the shots and all the tactical smarts in the world are as nothing without the concentration and presence of mind to apply them. As is so often the case with Swiatek, a casual glance at the scoreline might suggest a straightforward victory, but it is her mental steel, so painstakingly nurtured in tandem with sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz, that makes such emphatic results possible.
And yes, of course it is easier to think clearly and execute your shots when you already have a healthy lead. But the Pole will have been aware of the importance of that game, just as she will have known how dangerous Giorgi can be when she gets on a roll. Who knows what might have happened had the Italian broken at that point? Swiatek’s industry and application rendered the question moot.
“I was kind of in a positive attitude,” said the 22-year-old, who is bidding to win the “sunshine double” of Indian Wells and Miami for the second time in three years.
“I already know that I could do it two years ago, so this experience has taught me that there’s no need to worry or panic, you just have to really use every minute on court to be focused and get the right feeling.
“That’s all you can do. You don’t know if it’s going to come or not.”
Of late, it has come more often than not. A third-round loss to Linda Noskova at the Australian Open is the only significant blot on a season that has included WTA 1000 titles in Qatar and Indian Wells. Swiatek avenged that defeat when she met Noskova in the California desert earlier this month, and she will have the opportunity to make it a double dose of playback when she faces the Czech teenager again in the next round here.
“Pretty interesting,” said Swiatek of a third meeting in three months with the 31st-ranked Noskova. “It would be nice if the WTA could draw [differently] so we don’t get bored. I’m kidding.
“Playing against her is tough, as you could see in Australia. I’m going to focus on myself and learn what I did wrong, what I did good in our last matches, and just use that knowledge so I can play in a solid way, really efficiently.”
It is an art she is rapidly perfecting.