World No. 1 Iga Swiatek holds no regrets about the outcome of her semifinal match at the Cincinnati Masters and is relieved to finally have adequate rest time before the US Open.
Swiatek lost to USA's Coco Gauff for the first time in their head-to-head and in their eighth meeting. The writing appeared to be on the wall when Swiatek led 5-3 and was serving for a one-set lead. But a resurgent Gauff hit back, and saved two set points before bagging her first-ever set against the Pole, having lost each of her last 14.
Despite restoring parity with world-class serving, Swiatek couldn't capitalize on that momentum shift, as Gauff managed to regroup and secured the only break of the third set at 4-3. The 19-year-old needed four match points to close out the upset of the week.
Speaking to the media after the match, Swiatek wasn't at all disappointed with her performance, acknowledging she lost to a better player. And perhaps on a brighter note, she'll now give her body ample time to refresh and reset after operating on an 'empty tank'.
"Well, from my perspective I would say my tank of fuel is pretty empty. Honestly, I'm not even going to kind of regret a lot because I'm happy that I'm going to have days off now. Coco, for sure, she played great tennis. I got to check, but I think her first serve was better than most of the matches we played against each other, faster. She played more in, even though she's risking with that speed."
Swiatek says she'll get back to the drawing board and analyze critically what went wrong, as her brilliance fluctuated intermittently during the match. In the meantime, she will not get too far ahead of herself and start thinking of New York just yet - the scene of her maiden US Open title last summer.
"Well, for now, it doesn't because I haven't really been thinking about that (defending her title). I was just focused on this tournament. I know from my experience already that being a defending champion is not easy. I'm going to kind of take it easy on myself and just try to do everything step by step."
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