Melbourne: Iga Swiatek is dominating her Australian Open opponents the way no one has at Melbourne Park since Maria Sharapova in 2013.
Swiatek’s latest lopsided win came via a 6-1 6-2 score in the quarterfinals against No. 8 seed Emma Navarro on Wednesday.
The No. 2-seeded Pole not only has not dropped a set so far in the tournament, but also has lost a grand total of only 14 games as she seeks her first title at Melbourne Park and sixth Grand Slam trophy overall. Sharapova was the last woman to reach the Australian Open semifinals having dropped fewer than 15 games.
“She does everything with 100% conviction and intensity,” Navarro said about Swiatek.
Not that Iga Swiatek needs the help during her dominant run so far, but she did get the benefit of a no-call when she failed to reach a ball hit by her opponent before it bounced twice, renewing the debate over the use of video reviews in tennis.
Swiatek will face No. 19 Madison Keys of the US on Thursday night for a berth in the final.
On the men’s side, Ben Shelton’s quarterfinal foe, Lorenzo Sonego, produced the shot of the tournament — diving to his left for a volley with so much spin that the ball bounced on one side of the net, then floated back over to the other — but it was the American who ended up with the victory Wednesday.
The left-handed Shelton did some entertaining of his own, including earning cheers by doing a couple of push-ups after tumbling in the concluding tiebreaker, and reached his second Grand Slam semifinal at age 22 by beating the unseeded Sonego 6-4 7-5 4-6 7-6(4).
“I’m relieved,” said Shelton, who will meet No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy on Friday for a spot in Sunday’s final. Sinner thrashed No. 8 Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-3 6-2 6-1.