A young fan at the 2024 Cincinnati Open held a poster expressing his desire to play with Iga Swiatek in the future during her second-round match. The WTA No. 1 battled through a rollercoaster against Varvara Gracheva to advance into the third round.
The top seed received a bye in the first round and began her Cincinnati Open campaign in the second round against Gracheva on Wednesday, August 14. This was the Pole’s first match in the North American hard-court series and also her first match since winning the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
While she was playing on the Center Court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, a young fan named Patrick showed off his poster which read:
“Iga in 8 years we will play mixed doubles together”
The 23-year-old was off to a flier in her match against the Frenchwoman, winning the first set 6-0. Swiatek led 5-2 in the second set before Gracheva rallied to take the set into a tiebreaker.
The Pole led 4-1 in the tiebreaker but Gracheva made another comeback to seal the set 7-6(8) by saving five match points and forcing a decider. The World No. 1 kept her composure and won the third set 6-2.
“Not really focusing on the results” – Iga Swiatek still focusing on transition from clay at Cincinnati Open 2024
Iga Swiatek was in phenomenal form during the clay court season earlier in the year, winning two WTA 1000 titles and the French Open. She played at Wimbledon without any preparatory tournaments on grass and exited the Slam after the third round.
She returned to the Roland Garros clay for the Paris Olympics and bagged the first tennis medal for Poland. The World No. 1 is transitioning again. This time, she is moving from clay courts to hard courts and believes the transition to be ‘probably the hardest.’
After her first-round win at the 2024 Cincinnati Open against Varvara Gracheva, the Pole said:
“For sure, the transition is probably the hardest, from like the slowest surface [at Roland Garros] to the fastest surface… But that’s why I’m still happy with my performance, and looking forward to another match to kind of still do the grinding and implement what I was working on, but not really focusing on the results.”
Iga Swiatek is slated to face 15th seed Marta Kostyuk in the third round. The pair have faced off twice before and the World No. 1 has won both encounters in straight sets.