Caroline Garcia proved to be better than Iga Swiatek in the quarter-final of the 2022 Poland Open in Warsawa, stunning the Polish player and the home crowd.
Garcia is a very tricky player to play against because she's capable of producing some truly spectacular tennis at times. That is what happened in the opening set of her match at the WTA 250 tournament in Warsaw against Swiatek, as she jumped out to an early 4-0 lead.
She had a double-break lead because Swiatek struggled to remain consistent. The Polish player managed to recover one of those breaks, but she still shockingly lost the first set 1-6.
She was simply playing below her level, missing a lot, and playing the crucial points very badly. It changed in the second set as she was much better, resembling a player who was recently on a 37-match winning streak.
It started with a better serve and snowballed from there. It was Garcia who was missing this time around, and Swiatek quickly found her way to winning the second set 6-1 and forcing a decider in front of the packed stadium in Warsaw.
The final set was a proper battle between the players, who both settled into their rhythm. Swiatek was playing well, and Garcia was not backing down either. The French player was actually a bit better but failed to utilize her early chances.
She didn't get discouraged as she kept applying heavy pressure on Swiatek and the Polish player couldn't handle the pressure of the occasion late in the deciding set.
At 3-4, Swiatek allowed Garcia a break point, and the Frenchwoman used it to take a 5-3 lead. Swiatek managed to break back to serve at 4-5 in the third set, but she failed to win her service game, losing the match 1-6, 6-1, 4-6.