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Iga Swiatek admitted the Simona Halep clash was her toughest match at the Indian Wells Masters but she was glad that she was able to escape with a 7-6 (6) 6-4 win. Halep was playing a great tennis but even that wasn’t enough for her to win at least a set against in-form Swiatek.
Previously, Swiatek won three matches in three sets but still named the Halep match as the toughest she played this fortnight in Indian Wells. “[The match against Halep] was the toughest one,” Swiatek admitted after her win, per the WTA Tour website.
“Even though I was losing the first set sometimes [earlier in the fortnight], I still felt like I had a little bit more control over how the match is going. “Today I had to come back from some breaks as well, so I think mentally it was the toughest one.
Also coming back in that tiebreaker, it cost me a lot of energy, for sure… I think I would say it was the most exciting one probably, if I was watching it.”
Swiatek was on the verge of losing the first set
Swiatek claimed the first set break of the match after breaking Halep in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead.
After falling down by a break, Halep responded with back-to-back breaks to take a 5-4 lead. Swiatek quickly regained her focus after losing her serve in back-to-back games as she broke back in Halep in the 10th game to eventually force a tie-break.
After failing to serve out for the first set in the 10th game, Halep also missed out on a good chance in the tie-break as she blew a 6-4 lead and two consecutive set points. Swiatek was 6-4 down in the tie-break, before she won four points in a row to overturn the deficit and win the first set.
Halep led 4-2 through the first six games of the second set but then her game fell apart as Swiatek claimed back-to-back breaks to overturn the deficit and book a straight-set win.
