Defending champion, Iga Swiatek suffered a shocking straight-sets defeat today against Danielle Collins in the third round of the Italian Open. The 29th seed Collins defeated the second seed Swiatek in straight sets: 6-1, 7-5.
Swiatek failed to defend her title in Rome, and following today’s loss, she will drop out of the top three in the rankings. She was last outside the top three in March 2022.
Collins showed no fear, hitting 32 winners and committing only 15 unforced errors, while Swiatek managed 15 winners and 22 unforced errors. Collins converted six of eight break points, while Swiatek converted only two of ten.
Swiatek’s coach, Wim Fissette, was seen shouting, “Iga, very simple. Play to win. Put your energy into it — play to win.” Swiatek fought back in the second set after a poor display in the first but couldn’t push the match to a deciding third set.
Iga Swiatek has not won any tournament since last year’s French Open
Before today’s match, Swiatek had won seven of her last eight encounters against Collins. Moreover, the Polish star had won 21 of her last 22 matches at the Rome Masters.
As of now, Swiatek has not won any tournament since last year’s French Open.
After the victory, Collins said, “Obviously, I played against Iga so many times. When you play that many close matches and also play your best tennis and lose, you learn a lot.”
Collins will now face the winner of the match between Elina Svitolina and Hailey Baptiste in the fourth round on Monday, May 12.
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