MELBOURNE. – French Open winner Iga Swiatek rallied from a set and a break down in brutal heat to overpower Estonian Kaia Kanepi 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 on Wednesday and reach her first Australian Open semifinal.
Kanepi, 36, appeared set to progress beyond the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time when she won the opening set and broke early in the second, with a frustrated Swiatek slapping herself and slamming her racquet on court.
But the Pole, who committed 12 double faults in the match, regained her composure and raised her level in a second set tiebreaker to level the contest at 1-1.
Swiatek suffered two more breaks in the decider but managed to break 115th-ranked Kanepi four times, sealing the three-hour contest on her second match point when the Estonian sent a backhand wide for her 62nd unforced error.
In the other match, Danielle Collins was in a world of pain a year ago, but the American is now hopeful her best tennis lies ahead of her as she bids to break new ground at the Australian Open.
Collins ended Alize Cornet’s dream run with a 7-5, 6-1 win, reaching her second semifinal at Melbourne Park, three years after her first.
The 28-year-old will meet seventh seed Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, for a place in her first Grand Slam final. She is the second American into the last four, with Madison Keys to play top seed Ash Barty on Thursday.
Former University of Virginia player Collins was in a dark place last year while suffering severe abdominal and back pain during her periods that impacted her ability to train and play.
It led to a diagnosis of endometriosis, which occurs when tissue like the womb lining grows in other places, usually within the pelvic cavity.
Collins had surgery last April and it has been a long road back to her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2019 in Melbourne.
“When you’re dealing with that type of physical pain multiple weeks out of the month, you’re not putting yourself in a position to be able to perform consistently and to be at your best whether as an athlete or a person,” she told reporters. — Reuters
