Iga Swiatek makes winning start in Cincinnati beating Stephens

Iga Swiatek did not have a good time in Toronto but the Polish player came back to a winning way in Cincinnati beating Sloane Stephens 6-4 7-5.

Swiatek hasn't been playing super sharp tennis lately losing a couple of very winnable matches. It all started at Wimbledon and the funk is still somewhat going on. Even if today was a good win it wasn't as sharp as we've gotten used to in the past couple of months. Swiatek herself admitted after her Toronto exit that it doesn't matter much the competitive spirit still burns bright.

She showed it in this match, especially in moments when things didn't go so well. She actually opened well taking an early 2-0 lead against an erratic Stephens but her balls sailed wide on a couple of occasions as well. It resulted in her losing her serve to give Stephens a lifeline but she broke her again to extend her lead to 4-1.

Some more bad misses by Swiatek allowed Stephens to battle back again and make it 4-4 but she could not do anything beyond that as the Pole once again took the lead and finally finished off the opening set 6-4. The 2nd set was played better by both as they were able to serve better which made things a lot easier.

Stephens particularly surprised Swiatek by breaking her early for the 2-1 lead but she completely fell apart after that. Iga went on a 4-0 run to take a 5-2 lead but stumbled at 5-3 when serving for the match. Stephens made it 5-5 but once again Swiatek was better down the stretch getting it 7-5.