When she reached last month’s French Open quarter-finals, Iga Swiatek said she would be “over the moon” to make the same stage at Wimbledon for the first time.
After an almighty effort and an almighty scare, Swiatek reached that milestone in extraordinary fashion on Sunday, recovering from two match points down against Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic to join the last eight club with a 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 victory on Centre Court. The moon has been conquered; now the Polish top seed can shoot for the stars.
It was a touch-and-go affair, Swiatek dropping a set she ought to have won, then snatching one she looked certain to lose. But her growing confidence on a surface where she has struggled in the five years since she won junior Wimbledon is palpable. Swiatek spoke after her win over Petra Martic in the previous round of how last month’s victory at Roland Garros alleviated the pressure she has felt this year – “I reached my goal, kind of, for the season,” she said – and although her stress levels rose as Bencic threatened an upset, the 22-year-old’s sense of freedom will only be bolstered by the manner of her latest victory.
“For sure this match is going to give me more belief,” said Swiatek, who will face Elina Svitolina, a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9) winner over Victoria Azarenka, in the last eight.
“I’m happy that it was really tight and I could still play my game. These are important moments, for sure. You have to take all the positive stuff from matches like that.”
Having accounted for Zhu Lin, Sara Sorribes Tormo and Martic in straight sets, Swiatek was not found wanting when her game came under more intense scrutiny against Bencic. The Swiss 14th seed defeated Swiatek at the US Open two years ago and, unlike the Pole, has parlayed her 2013 junior Wimbledon triumph into senior grass-court success, winning Eastbourne in 2015 and twice previously reaching the last 16 at the All England Club. But while Bencic harried the world No 1 with her flat, penetrating groundstrokes, Swiatek held firm.
“I think it was an incredible match,” said Bencic. “I’m super proud of how it went from my side. I threw everything I could at her, and I pushed her to the limit.”
The pivotal moment came with the world No 1 serving to stay in the match for the second time at 5-6. Two games earlier, she had held her nerve admirably in identical circumstances, bookending a courageous hold with a pair of searing forehand winners, both of which found lines. This time, though, Swiatek was bristling with nervous energy. Her growing anxiety was evident in the previous game, where she failed to put a single return in court. As Swiatek raced from her chair to resume battle, Bencic cannily made her wait, the Swiss fiddling with her towel as she placed it in her courtside box. A wildly mistimed Swiatek forehand followed and, in a trice, she was 15-40 down.
Facing two match points, Swiatek’s response was magnificent.
First came a deep 115mph first serve into the body, a pair of backhands that moved Bencic from left to right, and a forehand down the line that fell like an executioner’s axe, comfortably inside the lines yet laced with such speed that the scrambling Swiss could only frame it.
Then Swiatek reversed the pattern, a forehand loaded with topspin pulling Bencic wide before a precise, perfectly calibrated backhand found the opposite corner. Swiatek went on to hold with another beautifully crafted point, rifling and then rolling her backhand to force the second tiebreak of the match.
“I don’t even remember how it was,” said Swiatek. “Usually, I know that I have kind of nothing to lose. Usually, I know that the player that is supposed to win this point is having a little bit more pressure.
“I also know how it is to have match points and to kind of try to close it, but not be too impatient. I just wanted to kind of play my game no matter what the situation was.”
The shoe was on the other foot when Bencic fended off two set points at 4-5, 15-40 in the first set. On that occasion, Swiatek was thwarted by a missed return and an excellent Bencic drop shot. Indeed, acts of escapology were par for the course for the Olympic champion in the early stages.
With her right arm and shoulder so heavily taped that you wondered if the tournament’s physio department had been obliged to order an emergency shipment of bandages, Bencic hit a pair of double faults in her opening service game and immediately faced three break points. She saved them all, and would save another three before the set was done. But once Swiatek had her nose in front, there was no coming back.
“I think so,” said Swiatek when asked at courtside if she was learning to love grass. “Every day my love is getting bigger, so hopefully I’m going to have as many days as possible to stay here and play on this court.
“For sure this is my best year on grass, so I feel really motivated because I know that even when you’re not feeling 100%, hard work is paying off.”