World No.1 Iga Swiatek revealed she had felt stressed and off form all Australian Open after crashing out to Czech teenager Linda Noskova. The four-time Grand Slam champion had extended her winning streak to 18 matches by reaching the third round.
But nerveless world No. 50 Noskova won the biggest match of her life 3-6 6-3 6-4 to reach the last-16 in her first main draw appearance here. It was the earliest exit for a world No.1 since 1979.
Swiatek, who reached the semi-finals in 2022, said: “I just wasn’t playing with my intuition and naturally. Whole tournament. For sure I was more stressed than in other tournaments, especially the first two rounds.
“I feel like I did really everything I could in pre-season to improve some stuff that I wanted to. Then I came here and I wasn’t playing naturally anymore. My split step was too late sometimes. My reaction was a little bit slower. That’s why it wasn’t as natural as usual. Sometimes I don’t even understand, so I don’t know if you will.”
She then added that Noskova played without any fear, which proved vital at the end as the teenager wrapped up proceedings in Melbourne Park.
She said: “I felt like I had everything under control. But I think she just went all in without any pressure. She probably knew that she has nothing to lose, you know? Maybe I should have done that when I had break points in previous games, but I wanted kind of to be the solid version of myself.
I think she went all in. I remember I think I served only one first serve in during that game, so maybe that was the reason. But honestly, I remember how focused I was before the serves and I knew that I kind of took care of everything that I do usually. I’m not sure why I didn’t put these serves in. I would need to watch. I mean, she just used the chance and she went all in on her return game, then she just won her serve and that’s all.”
Noskova, 19, herself said: “I’m just really kind of exhausted mentally and physically. It was an unbelievable match for me.” She will now play Elina Svitolina after the Wimbledon semi-finalist beat Viktoriya Golubic 6-2 6-3 to be the third Ukrainian through to the second week.
Victoria Azarenka will face qualifier Dayana Yastremska after the Belarusian beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-1 7-5 to reach the fourth round for the 11th time here.
