Canadian Open: Swiatek holds off Collins, to face Pegula in semis

MONTREAL: World No.1 Iga Swiatek reached the semifinals of the ongoing Canadian Open with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over qualifier Danielle Collins, here.

Win against Collins on Friday night was Swiatek's 50th match victory of the season. In the semifinals, she will face No.3 Jessica Pegula, who registered a dramatic 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 winner over doubles partner Coco Gauff.

Over the past two seasons, Swiatek has won 117 matches -- the most on the WTA Tour in a two-year span since Angelique Kerber in 2015-16. The last player to win 50-plus matches in back-to-back seasons was Karolina Pliskova (2018-19). Swiatek is the first player since Serena Williams (2013-2014) to win 117 matches over two years.

By reaching this quarterfinal, Swiatek extended her reign as the No.1-ranked player to 72 weeks, 10th place on the all-time list and one more than Caroline Wozniacki.

"I really wanted to play powerful and I’m pretty happy that I managed to even increase the power in the third set. For sure, I was looking for that. Today I felt like I really needed to go even higher in terms of the intensity," said Swiatek in her on-court interview.

"I'm really proud of myself that I made it to the semis. I’m happy that I can play another match," she added.

On the other hand, Collins, a qualifier, was looking to win her sixth match in seven days. After two qualifying victories, Collins defeated Eugenie Bouchard in the first round, No.8 Maria Sakkari in the second and 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in the Round of 16.

"I think from an energy perspective that probably had a big effect on the match," Collins said afterward.

"I don't want to take away from Iga's performance. I think the way she was hitting her shots and her precision and what she was doing tactically was great," she added.

Swiatek has now won three of four career matches against Collins.