Google News Warsaw Open: Yanina Wickmayer keeps Iga Swiatek at bay; Laura Siegemund lies in wait
by ABBEY JOHNSON
The weather conditions have made it a crazy week for the players at the Warsaw Open. On Friday, only one of the four quarter-finals was played while three others were postponed to Saturday. On Saturday, while all three quarter-final matches were wrapped up, one semi-final match – the one between Iga Swiatek and Yanina Wickmayer – had to be pushed to Sunday, on the day of the final.
Earlier on Saturday, the world no. 1 won her quarter-final match against the Czech Republic’s Linda Noskova. The Pole needed 80 minutes to post a 6-1, 6-4 win over her opponent, seeded eighth in the draw. Swiatek won 72% of her first-serve points to Noskova’s 68%.
She also won 54% of her second-serve points and 71% points on return on Noskova’s serve. The tournament top seed faced just the one break point – in the second set and failed to save. She, however, converted four of eight break points she faced on Noskova’s serve.
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Meanwhile, Swiatek’s opponent in the semi-final, Yanina Wickmayer defeated Heather Watson in their quarter-final match-up. The Belgian posted a 6-4, 6-3 win after an hour and 34 minutes of play.
Wickmayer saved two of the five break points she faced while converting six of nine break points on the Briton’s serve. The win also meant that the 33-year-old would make a comeback into the top-100 of the WTA singles rankings again.
Back in 2010, Wickmayer had been ranked as high no. 12 in the world. In their semi-final, Swiatek led Wickmayer 6-1, 5-2 and even had a couple of match points against her. The latter, however, saved them all and pushed the set to five-all before their match had to be rescheduled to Saturday due to insufficient light.
On Friday, in the lone quarter-final that was played, Tatjana Maria defeated Rebecca Sramkova 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. On Saturday, Laura Siegemund defeated Maria in their all-German semi-final, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Prior to that Siegemund came through in a three-setter against Lucrezia Stefanini, 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3.
As such, the Warsaw Open final will be played between the winner of the clash between Iga Swiatek and Yanina Wickmayer, and Laura Siegemund.