Linette shocks fellow Pole and second seed Swiatek

MIAMI GARDENS – Iga Swiatek came into the Miami Open with 73 consecutive WTA opening match victories.

However, she clearly didn’t come in her standard top form. The six-time Grand Slam champion has dropped to No. 3, after being the year-ending No. 1 or No. 2 in the previous four years. She hasn’t gotten past the quarterfinals in her three tournaments this year.

So, Swiatek did not make it 74 in a row on Stadium Court Thursday night as fellow Pole Magda Linette stunned the No. 2 seed Swiatek 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

“I just haven’t been doing good stuff well,’’ Swiatek said. “For the last weeks, months, I don’t even know, it’s kind of up and down, so, yes, I’m going to try to do better, to go back from this because I don’t like it.

“This is like the world’s worst nightmare a tennis player can have in terms of dropping these matches in terms of level. So, I need to live through this and go forward and learn. And figure it out.”

Linette, 34, seems to play her best in Miami, reaching two of her three career WTA 1000 quarterfinals here, including last year when she took down world No. 3  Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-4.

It took a seemingly nervous Linette her fifth match point to seal the deal when Swiatek ripped a cross-court backhand wide, eliciting a jump of joy from the 50^th-ranked Linette.

In their only other meeting, Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, cruised 6-1, 6-1 in Beijing in 2023.

“I have a little bit of a better idea what to do,’’ said Linette, who has three WTA titles, two on hard courts. “I was also serving better than last time. And I was just trying to focus to hold myself first, to get a little bit more ahead and keep being ahead all the time, because then you might get a chance here and there, and eventually, I did.

“So I think that’s what was most important to really stay strong on my service [holding].”

Linette’s win deprived Swiatek a chance to gain revenge against Alexandra Eala, who shocked the Pole in the quarterfinals here last year. Linette will now face Eala in the second round, and holds a 2-1 edge in their meetings. However, the Filipina won their last tussle, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of Auckland last month.

Swiatek, who graciously hugged Linette after the match, was clearly shaken in her post-match media session.

Swiatek was asked if she has a figurative target on her back because she has dominated the sport for the last five years and routinely gets the best from her opponents.

“Sometimes, yes, because they can play without any expectations, but on the other hand, I can’t say that they’ve been playing so well that I can’t win these matches,’’ Swiatek said. “I know I can win these matches and my level has just been disappointing, you know.

“But, yeah, I feel I may not be the best player right now, but I feel like I carried these last years on my shoulders a bit because everybody knows I have the game to win tournaments. I just haven’t been showing that. So, it’s a tough thing to handle because I want to do better. I want to also have better results.”

It didn’t look good for Linette after dropping the first set, 6-1. “She’s so aggressive,’’ she said. “She can really push you back. She didn’t really give me any time in between. I just had to go for a little bit more. I had to start hitting it a little bit faster, to push her a little bit more back. Don’t give her space. But I think it was all starting with serving a bit better and getting a little bit more from my first and second serve.”

When she walked off the court Linette signed the camera lens: “Miami Vibes!”

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