Australian Open 2022: 'She’s a great problem solver now' - Barbara Schett on 'evolving' Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek has “evolved so much” since winning the French Open in 2020 as she homes in on a first Australian Open title, according to Eurosport expert Barbara Schett. For the first time since her run to the Roland Garros trophy, the Polish seventh seed has reached a major semi-final after seeing off Kaia Kanepi in the last eight in Melbourne. Ad/> It was a battle of the generations on Rod Laver Arena as Swiatek, 20, took on 36-year-old Kanepi, who took the first set and fought back in the second to force a tie-break.

Australian OpenSwiatek into maiden AO semi after edging out Kanepi in gruelling battle10 HOURS AGO But Swiatek came through the breaker before pulling clear in a topsy-turvy decider, eventually winning 4-6 7-6(2) 6-3. She signed off the quarter-final with an outrageous display of defence, making four staggering gets from well behind the baseline as she converted her second match point. “The last point was pretty weird, I don’t think I’ve played any point like that in my life,” Swiatek told Eurosport in the Cube.

“I was pretty glad that I was fighting until the end and able to overcome all the doubts that I had in the first set, think what I did wrong and change it. I was pretty proud of myself. “It’s pretty new for me, coming back from losing the first set.

Even though these matches were long, during them I can actually show that I’m really prepared physically. “I had to change some stuff to win the other sets. It’s a lot of experience and confidence for me.” Swiatek, who scribbled “that was stressful” on the camera lens after seeing off Kanepi, also fought back from a set down to beat Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in the fourth round.