Swiatek holds off Raducanu in Stuttgart quarterfinals

World No.1 Iga Swiatek’s winning streak at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix extended to 10 matches on Friday as the two-time defending champion defeated former US Open champion Emma Raducanu 7-6(2), 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

For a spot in her third straight final in Stuttgart, Swiatek will face No.4 seed Elena Rybakina, who came from a break down in the third set to beat Dubai champion Jasmine Paolini in three sets earlier in the day.

Swiatek needed 2 hours and 3 minutes to dispatch the resurgent Brit, who was contesting her first quarterfinal since the autumn of 2022, and improve to 3-0 all-time in their historic head-to-head. But though Swiatek has never lost a set in those three matches, Wednesday’s clay-court affair — their second match in Stuttgart — was the most competitive.

Read on for more of the top takeaways from Swiatek’s latest Stuttgart match victory.

The first set was the story: For just the second time in 21 career sets played at the tournament, Swiatek was pushed to a tiebreak thanks to an inspired effort from the former US Open champion. The first set on its own lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes, and the first three games alone lasted more than 20 of those combined.

Raducanu was the first to break serve — from 40-0 down, no less — and although Swiatek broke her back immediately, the Brit served notice that she was ready to dig her heels in and compete in a seven-deuce opening service game.

After the first two games, only one more went to deuce — and it was a crucial one. Raducanu saved the only other break point either woman faced in the first set in the sixth game — when a second serve that was initially called out was overruled to in, and she was awarded the point.

But Swiatek’s level raised in the tiebreak, where she won the first four points and five of the first six.

Swiatek speaks: After the match, Swiatek said that she was ready to navigate the challenge that Raducanu posed after the Brit’s early hot start.

“She started playing at the beginning pretty loose, like she had nothing to lose, and I totally get that. Sometimes it is like that,” the top seed said afterwards.

“But I knew I was kind of questioning if she’s going to be able to keep the same intensity throughout the whole match. It wasn’t about service games or return games. I was just the waiting for my chances to break back and I was sure that I’m going to get them.”

Raducanu serves notice in defeat: Despite the loss, early returns for Raducanu have been positive in the clay-court season thus far. Her two wins for Great Britain in Billie Jean King Cup play against France, and two wins at the Porsche Arena over Angelique Kerber and Linda Noskova, marked the first time she won four matches in a row since her life-changing US Open win out of qualifying three summers ago.

The former World No.10 came into the tournament ranked No.303, and her Stuttgart return was nonetheless a full circle moment: She missed the rest of the 2023 season following this tournament last year due to surgery on both wrists and her ankle. Raducanu is the lowest-ranked player to reach a WTA 500 quarterfinal since Elena Rybakina, who was a wild card ranked No.450 at the 2018 St. Petersburg Ladies’ Trophy.