Iga Swiatek told she plays like a man by opponent ahead of semi-finals

Iga Swiatek’s latest opponent has claimed that she plays like “the men” ahead of their semi-final showdown in Madrid. Veronika Kudermetova has never beaten the world No 1 in their three meetings and is through to her maiden semi-final at WTA 1000 level.

Swiatek will face a familiar opponent in her semi-final at the Madrid Open, as she has already defeated Kudermetova this year in Doha, as well as on two other occasions. The Pole dropped just one game when they faced off in Qatar and the world No 13 has explained just what makes Swiatek’s game so tricky.

The Russian admitted that the 21-year-old played like a man as she said: “I mean, I think she play like, you know, the men’s stylish game, because she do a lot of kick, she try to play very aggressive.”

The 26-year-old wasn’t taking much confidence given Swiatek’s aggressive game style, but said she knew what to do after their previous encounters. “I mean, if I’m looking for that, it’s not giving me like confident, but I try to show my best, try to do the right things on the court,” Kudermetova added.

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“And I think this will be very important, just, you know, doesn’t matter what was the score, but I know what I need to do.” Kudermetova has already scored an impressive win over world No 3 Jessica Pegula in Madrid, upsetting her in the quarter-final.

The world No 13 took the first set but dropped the second 6-0 to the American before storming back to clinch a 6-4 0-6 6-4 win in what was their first meeting. “I mean, first set was pretty good for myself, but in the second set, I think Jessica, she start to play a little bit more aggressive,” Kudermetova explained.

Laughing, she added: “I was maybe a little bit tired, but to be honest, in the second set I start to laughing that, Veronika, you want to kill yourself. Again, three-set battle. Yeah, I mean, was really tough set.

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“But before the final set, I say to myself, Veronika, you need to try to do something, because if you will continue to play like this you will lose for sure. You need to start to play a little bit more aggressive.”

After managing to respond to Pegula’s aggressive game, the 12th seed in Madrid will be hoping to take the same attitude into her match against Swiatek. Meanwhile, the world No 1 isn’t bothered about the change in conditions for her match against Kudermetova.

The pair have only ever played on hard courts but will now face off in the altitude of Madrid on the clay. And they have been given a late-night slot of 9pm Spanish time, but Swiatek said: “Well, I don’t think it matters. I just meant that every day it’s different. So this is the challenge.”

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