Swiatek Beats Talented Shnaider In Madrid Despite Massive Struggles

Iga Swiatek beat Diana Shnaider in three sets despite struggling for the vast majority of the match.

Swiatek and Shnaider had to wait to get onto the court for their fourth-round match for quite some time. They were supposed to play on Monday, but a nationwide power outage in Spain meant that almost all of the matches in Madrid were postponed, apart from those that finished before the outage.

Almost a day later, the two got onto the court, kicking off the action at the Manolo Santana Stadium. Fans were happy to see some tennis action again, but initially, Swiatek made it seem like they wouldn't have a lot to enjoy.

The second seed was incredibly dominant in the first set of the match. To reach the fourth round, Shnaider beat Anastasija Sevastova 6-0, 6-0, but this time, it was the Russian player who was on the receiving end of a bagel.

Swiatek played an almost flawless set of tennis. The Polish player won 24 out of 31 points played, never losing more than two points in a game. The defending Madrid Open champion just dominated from the moment the first ball was hit, winning the first set 6-0 in just 22 minutes.

That obviously made all Swiatek's fans happy, but those who came to enjoy a proper tennis battle likely weren't happy. But Shnaider gave them a reason to hope for a miracle at the start of the second set.

The 21-year-old Russian player won the first two games of the second set while losing only two points, leading 2-0 early on. On top of that, she had two more break points to lead already 3-0.

But that was also the moment in this match when Swiatek showed her strength. The Polish player went from 0-2 and a break point down to leveling the score at 2-2. On top of that, she saved two more break points in the following game to lead 3-2.

Yet, Shnaider kept fighting for every point, and it paid off. The Russian player was able to hold her serve, even though through some difficulties, and create three consecutive break point chances in the next game.

Swiatek saved all three of those, but Shnaider worked her way to yet another break point and converted that to lead 4-3. But again, the Russian youngster couldn't hold her serve to have a chance to serve out the set.

Swiatek then saved two more break points on her serve, and suddenly, Shnaider was serving to stay in the match. Although her opponent got as close as two points away from winning the match, the Russian player held her serve and leveled the score at 5-5.

Shnaider eventually forced a tie-break, and surprisingly, she was the much better player in the tie-break. The Russian player led 5-1 and she converted the lead into a win, winning the tie-break 7-3.

The third set was a proper battle again. Both players had their chances. Shnaider had two break points, while Swiatek had five. The Polish player used one of those chances, and that was enough for her to win the match 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-4, reaching the quarter-finals in Madrid.