Swiatek lets lead slip, then reasserts control to advance in Rome

ROME — No. 4 seed Iga Swiatek took the scenic route into the Internazionali BNL d’Italia third spherical, surviving a valiant comeback from Caty McNally to win 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 in 2 hours, 43 minutes.

At 6-1, 3-1, the three-time Rome champion Swiatek appeared to be cruising by means of her opener. Her topspin was leaping off the court docket, she was putting a collection of forehand winners, and she or he was breaking down McNally’s drive backhand in prolonged rallies. But she squandered three break factors for a 4-1 lead with low cost unforced errors, and from that time on the match became a battle.

McNally — the one participant to win a set from Swiatek at Wimbledon final 12 months — had by no means crushed the Polish star at professional degree. But she did have a memorable victory over Swiatek on clay — a 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 comeback in the 2018 Roland Garros junior occasion. As McNally started to impose her contact on the match, she threatened the same turnaround.

Swiatek served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second set and reached 30-30 each occasions, solely to lapse into errors, getting damaged on backhands that sailed effectively over the baseline on every event.

As his accuracy wavered, McNally grew more practical at drawing errors from Swiatek along with his protection. McNally’s slice had little influence by means of the primary set and a half, however her means to reset factors with it grew to become a key issue in turning the second set.

In the third set, it was almost unraveled once more for Swiatek. She broke McNally for 3-1, however missed an opportunity to prolong the lead to 4-1 with a double fault, then handed the break straight again with a string of errors.

But this time, Swiatek regained her focus. As McNally held a degree to degree at 4-4, Swiatek swatted away to return to deny her. Two dialed-in clear winners adopted, and then the break for 5-3. There could be no repeat of her second-set jobs. Solid offensive patterns introduced Swiatek to match level, and she or he transformed as McNally despatched a forehand simply vast.

Swiatek will subsequent face both No. 28 seed Emma Navarro or dwelling hope Elisabetta Cocciaretto.