MELBOURNE-. Down a set and facing a break point against Every SwiatekLinda Noskova (50) decided that she did not have to lose.
She won 11 of the next 12 points to take the second set and change the momentum in the third-round match on Saturday and became the first teenager to beat the world number one at the Australian Open since 1999.
With a great serve and other hard groundstrokes, he rattled Swiatek and kept his cool, even on the final match serve. Noskova won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a victory that means there are no top 10 players in the world left at the top of the bracket.
“I’m really exhausted mentally and physically,” Noskova admitted at the post-match press conference. “I just believed in my game tonight, I really wanted it.”
Swiatek has won four majors, but has never made it past the semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
All in all, she was on a winning streak of 18 matches and was the expected winner against Noskova, a debutant in the tournament at 19 years old.
Swiatek defeated 2020 Australian champion Sofia Kenin and 2022 finalist Danielle Collins in the first two rounds. But after winning the first set against her 19-year-old Czech opponent, she seemed to lose her rhythm.
Noskova saved a breakpoint in the seventh game of the second set and won 11 of the next 12 points to level the match at one set apiece.
The Czech obtained the decisive break in the seventh game of the third set.
Swiatek held to love in the penultimate game and forced his opponent to serve, then took a 0-30 lead in the 10th.
But Noskova remained calm and won the next four points. She reached match point with an ace and sealed the win when Swiatek sent a backhand out.
With Swiatek’s defeat, no. 12 China’s Zheng Qinwen remains the highest seed alongside her and Australia’s double champion Victoria Azarenka as the only major winner.
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, US Open winner Coco Gauff and world no. 9 Barbora Krejcikova are on the opposite side of the draw.
Source: AP
