Swiatek is injured one step away from victory. Rybakina advances • Internazionali BNL d’Italia

It wasn’t difficult to define the match between Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina as an anticipated final. And it was a beautiful match for two sets, dominated at the beginning by the Polish world number 1 who came to lead 6-2 4-2 with the ball at her disposal to make it 5-2. She didn’t manage to exploit it, also thanks to her opponent, and she suffered the return, the newfound confidence in the devastating serve, which forced her to the tie-break. There the Kazakh, n.6 in the world, was more decisive and effective, she flew from 3-3 to 6-3, finishing off the attack. Precisely in an attempt to recover the last lunge of the opponent Swiatek badly supported her right leg and finished the set with a grimace of pain.

At that point he asked for a “Medical Time out”. Upon returning to the field, she seemed refreshed, as well as having a bandage on her right thigh. And she started holding very well her first two innings. Rybakina did the same, also because the Polish woman no longer reacted to the answer. And when her opponent made it 2-2 she signaled to the referee that her game and her tournament were over.

With a melancholy handshake she gave way to Rybakina, who in the semifinals will face Jelena Ostapenko, n. 20 in the world, with whom she trailed 2-1 in head to head matches but she won the last one, in the quarterfinals of this year’s Australian open.

A painful conclusion for a confrontation that promised a lot and was actually keeping expectations: the world’s No. 1 was facing a No. 6 who in fact is worth third place overall, which would be hers if the 2000 were counted points that would have been due to the winner of the 2022 Wimbledon tournament (which was played without the award of ATP and WTA points). Considering that the n.2 Aryna Sabalenka made her debut in Rome, surprisingly beaten by the American Sofia Kenin, it can be said that the two strongest tennis players of the moment faced each other on the central court.

More than anything else Rybakina is, together with Sabalenka, the tennis player who best manages to stand up to the dominatrix of the circuit. This year she had beaten her in the round of 16 at the Australian Open (where she would then lose in the final against Sabalenka) and beaten her in the semifinal at Indian Wells, then beating her in the final, guess who? Aryna Sabalenka.

The quarter-final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia had to be, in addition to the fourth chapter of a saga that began in 2021 with a success by Swiatek in the Ostrava tournament, the verification of mutual ambitions and the ability of the Kazakh to be competitive at the top also on the clay.

That of the Foro Italico these days is particularly slow, soaked in rain and it certainly didn’t help the statuesque athlete born in Moscow, one meter and 84, certainly less rapid than the Polish, splendid athlete of one meter and 76, able to sprint like to break the ball with its accelerations.

The n.1 takes off like a rocket but forgets the smartphone on

Swiatek entered the field so focused on the challenge that she forgot her mobile phone in her purse. The speaker on the central unit had recently invited the public to switch off their smartphones to enjoy the game and in the most delicate moment of the first game it was precisely that of the no.1 who started playing, forcing the owner, extremely embarrassed, to interrupt the game to rummage in the bags in search of the disturbing object. This did not prevent her from making the break shortly after which would have allowed her to run a header, challenging her opponent also in terms of pure power.

With his yellow and blue cockade attached to his cap to remember his support for the Ukrainian people, Swiatek always tried to be very aggressive in returning, remaining very close to the baseline even on Rybakina’s first ball, queen of the aces in the WTA circuit.

The tactic was rewarded with a second break which gave a very precise direction to the first set. Rybakina remained very dangerous: she pushed to the max every ball in which she could find safe footing. The Pole, however, did everything to make her move, to force her to move before each play, thus reducing her safety margins. She continues to push Elena hard but her mistakes were definitely more numerous than winning shots.

Half an hour had to pass for the Wimbledon champion to win the first game. The reigning Roland Garros and US Open champion still led 4-1. A few minutes later, exactly 44 minutes into the match, Iga Swiatek closed the first match 6-2.

Swiatek also starts well in the second set

And she opened the second by immediately breaking the serve from the powerful opponent again. When the Kazakh returned to bat, at 0-2, the percentage of points won after having placed the first serve ball was 47%: a pittance for one of her like her.

The match then proceeded with the rhythm of the rounds of service and seemed one way. At 4-2 Rybakina offered Swiatek the chance of 5-2 but then canceled it.

At that point, with Swiatek 4-3 after one hour and 28 minutes, surprisingly Rybakina had two break points available, thanks to two forehand errors by her rival who risked too much and uselessly. She took advantage of it and suddenly the game reopened. The Kazakh, in the next round of service, saved two consecutive break points, from 15-40, and took the lead for the first time, 5-4. She still had to save a break point when she served at 5-5: but she did it with yet another winning serve.

The weight of the set was now on Swiatek, who had accumulated several opportunities to close but had seen them all slip. At the tie-break, anxiety ate her up and the law betrayed her. Rybakina flew 6-3 and closed at the first opportunity. A match that seemed over, suddenly ended up in the hands of the world No. 6 (who from next Monday will surely be among the top 5 of the standings for the first time) because Swiatek also hurt his right thigh while attempting a desperate recovery on the set point . And, as we anticipated, he tried to continue up to 2-2 of the decisive set before raising the white flag. Rome thus loses her queen, good but unlucky: the next one, crowned by the final on Saturday night, will certainly be a new face.