Iga Swiatek has continued her dominant run at the Australian Open after beating eighth seed Emma Navarro to the loss of just three games.
Swiatek has been praised at the Australian Open after dropping only 14 games en route to her second semi-final in Melbourne.
This includes victories for Swiatek over Emma Raducanu, Katerina Siniakova, Rebecca Sramkova and Eva Lys, before she faced her first seeded opponent in Navarro.
In contrast, Navarro had only played three set matches en route to her first Australian Open quarter-final, before losing to Swiatek in an hour and a half.
This leaves the women’s singles draw just one round away from a first Grand Slam final between Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.
Iga Swiatek reveals whether she knew the ball double bounced against Emma Navarro
Despite the comprehensive scoreline that Swiatek beat Navarro by, there was a controversial moment that came in the second set of the match.
Embroiled in a rally at 2-2, Swiatek sprinted to the ball before hitting it over and winning the point a couple of shots later.
However, Navarro complained to umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore and suggested that the ball had bounced twice before Swiatek hit it.
Replays appeared to confirm Navarro’s suspicions, and Swiatek was asked about whether she knew the ball had double bounced in her press conference.
“Honestly, I didn’t see the replay after this point because after the point I didn’t look up for the screens because I wanted to stay focused and didn’t want this point to stay in my head for longer period of time,” answered Swiatek. “I wasn’t sure if it was a double bounce or I hit it with my frame. It was hard to say because, like, I was full sprinting.
“I don’t remember, like, even seeing the contact point. I don’t know. Sometimes you don’t really look when you hit the ball. So I wasn’t sure. I thought this is like the umpire’s kind of job to call it, you know. I was also waiting for the VAR, but I didn’t see it, so I just kind of proceed. I already focused on the next one.”
Iga Swiatek explains whether she think VAR rule should be changed
Despite Navarro’s frustration about the incident, she was unable to use the video replay feature new to the Australian Open as she chose to continue playing the point.
The official rules of the video review states that players ‘will be allowed to challenge certain judgment calls made by the chair umpire either on a point-ending call, or when a player immediately stops play.’
This is a rule that Navarro openly disagrees with, and Swiatek was also asked about what she thought of the legislation.
“I don’t know. I never really thought about it deeper,” responded the five-time major winner. “I would have to analyze more. Honestly, this is first time something like that happened to me, so I’m not sure.
“But I think they already had kind of a lot of time to think it through. So if there would be some better option, I think tennis would use it. We already had some, like, tense situations in other matches and also ATP last year. I guess the referees kind of think about it. It’s their kind of job to make the proper rules.”
Swiatek will look to put this controversy behind her when she plays her Madison Keys for a place in the Australian Open final.
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