WIMBLEDON, England — Iga Swiatek may not love the grass but relishes a battle whatever the surface and showed all that fight and bullish determination as she recovered to beat American Caty McNally 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 and reach the Wimbledon third round on Thursday.
McNally, the world No. 208, looked poised to cause an upset when she clawed her way back from 4-1 down to take the first set against the five-time Grand Slam champion.
At that point Swiatek’s mediocre record at the All England Club, where the Pole has never gone past the quarterfinals, seemed to be weighing heavily on her shoulders.
But rather than shy away from the scrap, the former world No. 1 seemed to flick a psychological switch that saw her come out for the second set transformed, upping her aggression and playing with a ferocity McNally simply could not handle.
She broke early in the second set and never looked back, losing only three more games to set up a clash with another American in Danielle Collins.
“I started the match well, so I knew that my game was there,” Swiatek said. “I knew that at the start of the second set I had to be more accurate. I just tried to improve and I’m happy it worked.”
The eighth seed may have her sights set far higher than the third round, but by reaching the last 32 she underlined her consistency on the big stage.
The 23-year-old is the third player this century to reach the third round in 22 consecutive women’s singles Grand Slams after Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams.
Whether such milestones are enough to persuade Swiatek she can excel on a surface that has so far proved difficult to master is yet to be determined.
With four French Open titles to her name, another at the US Open and two semifinal appearances in Australia, her unspectacular Wimbledon record stands out like a sore thumb.
A run to the Bad Homburg final in the grass-court warmup event showed her game is not entirely unsuited to the surface, though there was a period in the first set against McNally where she may have wondered if this tournament was simply not for her.
Having broken early and raced into a 4-1 lead, the wheels briefly came off as McNally did everything to push Swiatek out of her comfort zone.
The American pushed right up to the baseline to receive serve, trying to give Swiatek less time to react to the return, and for a while it worked.
McNally spurned four break points in the seventh game before finally taking her chance at the fifth attempt and then breaking again for a 6-5 lead when Swiatek swiped a backhand long.
When the Pole fired a wild forehand off target to hand McNally the opener, everything seemed to be going the American’s way. But that was as good as it got.
Swiatek knows McNally’s game well — the pair were doubles partners in their youth, clinching the junior title at Roland Garros in 2018 — and set about dismantling it in double-quick time.
She broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set and again to level the contest at one set each.
Swiatek then did the same at the start of the third set, breaking to go 2-0 ahead, with a forehand swiped cross-court, while another forehand winner saw her break again to move 4-0 up.
It was then straightforward for the Pole, although she did have to save five break points before wrapping up victory with an ace.
As well as earning her spot in the next round, the match against her old playing partner offered a pleasing trip down memory lane.
“It’s pretty funny because I remember these matches pretty well,” she said of her junior days.
“We know each other pretty well … She’s one of the people who make you feel like you are not only rivals on tour but that you can also respect each other and like each other.”
Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova was also taken to a third set before beating Caroline Dolehide 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, and 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina beat Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-1.
