Iga Swiatek says talk about her achieving the ‘Sunshine Double’ this year in Miami is too premature following her latest victory.
The world No.1 avoided a shock exit at the tournament by coming back from a set down to beat Czech Republic’s Linda Noskova 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-4, in the third round after more than two-and-a-hlaf hours of play. Swiatek, who lost to Noskova earlier this year at the Australian Open, dropped the opener after failing to convert a set point opportunity in the tiebreaker. Despite the blip, she turned her fortunes around by breaking her opponent twice in the second set and once again in the decider en route to victory.
Swiatek is currently on a nine-match winning streak after her triumph in Indian Wells. Should she also be victorious in Miami, she will join only a small group of players who have been able to win both events within the same season on multiple occasions. She first achieved the milestone, which is better known as the Sunshine Double, in 2022.
“It’s not like we can take everything for granted. You can be in trouble in the early stages of the tournament. There is no sense to talk about Sunshine Double.” Swiatek told reporters following her latest win.
“I’m taking experience from this match and I know what I have to focus on a little bit more because it wasn’t like I felt 100% comfortable all the time.
“I thought it was going to be easier to get used to the new conditions and new balls, but it’s been tricky.”
“I know that I still have some things to figure out and I know what to focus on.”
Overcoming her latest test on the Tour, Swiatek has paid tribute to the support she received from her team during the match. On-court coaching is allowed on the WTA Tour and coaches can interact with their player as long as they are on the same side of the court as them and they are sitting in the player’s box.
“The best way to deal with it is to talk with your team and tell them what you want. Sometimes it’s not easy to have these interactions because there’s a lot of emotions as well.” She commented.
“My box just told me one thing to kind of focus on in the time when I had chaos in my head a little bit. I had something to lean on and it really helped me.”
Swiatek will next play 14th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. She currently leads the Russian 3-1 in their head-to-head and her only loss occurred in their first meeting back in 2021.
Only three players have managed to achieve the ‘Sunshine Double’ on multiple occasions. They are Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Steffi Graf.
