By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Another major upset alert.
Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world no. 1 ranked Iga Swiatek has just been eliminated from the US Open after receiving a sweeping loss at the hands of world no. 6 Jessica Pagula- 6.2, 6.4- on September 5, 2024, in Queens, New York.
It seemed like this year’s US Open Grand Slam tournament has become a highlight reel of top players getting kicked out early in the competition.
After world no. 3 Coco Gauff’s early exit in the Round of 16 and world no. 5 Jasmine Paolini’s loss to an unseeded player, it was Swiatek this time who failed to reach this Grand Slam edition’s semifinal round.
Favored to win the matchup carrying an insane perfect record without a set dropped from her first-round performance, Swiatek was expected to bring her momentum in her quarterfinal duel against Pagula.
However, the savvy Pagula cracked the Swiatek code with an efficient game plan of letting her stay away from her comfort zone, which is the baseline area.
Pagula kicked things off with a barrage of short balls backed by a heavy amount of top spin that was just enough to force Swiatek into the no man’s land.
As Swiatek approached the net, Pagula didn’t think twice but to unleash her forehand down-the-line bombs, a strategy that worked to perfection in the opening set.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
That was the mantra that Pagula instilled when the following set began as she just waited for Swiatek to react to her golden strategy.
Midway through the second frame, Swiatek countered by targeting Pagula’s backhand, her weaker stroke compared to her forehand.
To Swiatek’s surprise, Pagula didn’t commit unforced errors and just returned the backhand stroke with a lob and staged an advanced preparation using her forehand top spins.
All hell broke loose when Pagula scored a crucial break point to clinch the lead, 5-4, before holding her service possession to seal the match and complete the upset.
With the win, Pagula just arranged a highly-anticipated semifinal clash with Karolina Muchova, another WTA star who is still searching for her first-ever Grand Slam championship title.
