On Rod Laver Arena, the world no. 1 was up a set and a break ahead of the last set when she collapsed horribly and fell behind 4-1. However, she won 6-4, 3-6, and 6-4 after winning five straight games.
In Thursday’s Australian Open second round, unseeded American Danielle Collins was defeated by Iga Swiatek, who rallied from the edge to extend her winning streak to eighteen matches. On Rod Laver Arena, the world no. 1 was up a set and a break ahead of the last set when she collapsed horribly and fell behind 4-1. However, she won 6-4, 3-6, and 6-4 after winning five straight games. After winning a match that lasted over three hours, Swiatek expressed her relief by saying, “Honestly, I was at the airport already.”
“I know she played perfectly but it was hard for anybody to keep that level so I wanted to be ready when mistakes came from the other side,” she said.
“I am very pleased of myself because it was not easy.
“I felt like I had the momentum going and then she started to play suddenly two times faster and I had no idea how to react for a couple of games, but I came back and I thought the only thing I can focus on is myself.”
Collins defeated Swiatek, 22, in the 2022 semi-finals in Melbourne, but the Polish top seed had won the previous three games, all of which occurred last season.
The American struck early in the match, broke in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead, but surrendered to love in the following game as Swiatek even the score.
Rain pulled the players off the court with the score set at 3-3 and 15-15, and they returned around 20 minutes later, once the surface was mopped dry and the roof was reopened.
Swiatek broke again in the ninth game, smashing a backhand volley winner past Collins before serving out the set.
The top seed broke again in the first game of the second set to take a commanding lead, but Collins rallied and won five consecutive games.
The American, ranked 62nd in the world, lost her composure at the critical moment, serving four double faults to offer Swiatek hope. But she crossed the line in her next serve game to tie the match.
Collins raced to a 4-1 lead in the final set, with Swiatek struggling to develop any form of rhythm.
The Pole broke to love to cut the deficit, and she saved three break points in the next game to keep her hopes alive.
The tide had now turned, as Collins’s last hopes of winning were dashed by the number one seed.
In the third round, Swiatek will play unseeded Czech player Linda Noskova.
