Reuters
Tennis – WTA 500 – Eastbourne International – Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, Britain – June 22, 2021 Poland’s Iga Swiatek during her round of 32 match against Britain’s Heather Watson Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
Reuters
Tennis – WTA 500 – Eastbourne International – Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, Britain – June 22, 2021 Poland’s Iga Swiatek during her round of 32 match against Britain’s Heather Watson Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
After failing to defend her French Open crown, young Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek entered her first grass-court tournament of the seasont at WTA Eastbourne International. Swiatek defeated Heather Watson in the first-round.
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In her next matchup, the Pole faced Daria Kasatkina, who appeared to be in fine touch after reaching the finals at WTA Birmingham classic last week. The Russian was outpowered by Ons Jabeur in the finals.
Reuters
Tennis – WTA 500 – Eastbourne International – Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, Britain – June 22, 2021 Poland’s Iga Swiatek in action during her round of 32 match against Britain’s Heather Watson Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
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Lets see how the encounter between Iga Swiatek and Daria Kasatkina progressed.
The first set was closely contested as each player stuck to their strengths and held their service games. Swiatek already mentioned difficulties in adjusting her game to grass. But, she managed to ease through the first set and even got the better of Kasatkina to win the set, 6-4.
But, the real trouble for Swiatek began in the second set where she was bageled by the Russian. The Polish player made a lot of untimely errors, much to the benefit of Kasatkina. At the end of the set, Swiatek failed to continue her momentum on the first-serves and made 12 unforced errors compared to the Russian’s 5 errors.
Sending a message. 💥🥊@DKasatkina is fighting for a spot in the quarters, she takes the second set 6-0.
Stay tuned for updates → https://t.co/tPoe44TDv0#VikingInternational pic.twitter.com/trnzJDfkuF— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 23, 2021
Iga Swiatek couldn’t find her way back after getting bageled by Kasatkina in the second set
Troubles followed Swiatek even in the third set where she was broken initially by Kasatkina. Even though the Russian was preferably a clay-court player, she was quick to adjust to the grass. In fact, Kasatkina reached the quarter-finals at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships.
Using her experience on grass to good effect, the Russian created enough trouble for Swiatek with her variety of shots. She used a lot of drop shots and placed them perfectly.
When a player has little experience on grass, it usually tends to get a bit difficult when there is a challenging opponent like Kasatkina on the other side of the court.
🇷🇺 @DKasatkina with a big comeback win in Eastbourne!
The Russian bounces back from a set down to defeat No.4 seed Swiatek 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.
Up next: a #VikingInternational quarterfinal against wildcard Jelena Ostapenko. pic.twitter.com/MMsrebfMgY
— wta (@WTA) June 23, 2021
Swiatek faced the same problem today as she didn’t look anywhere close to bouncing back in the third set. Eventually, she lost a couple of service games more to hand over the match to the Russian, 6-4,0-6,6-1.
