Iga Swiatek has continued her unbeaten run at the China Open after reaching the fourth round.
Swiatek won the Korea Open last week at her last tournament, and she has continued her winning ways at the China Open, where she won the title in her last appearance in 2023.
With Aryna Sabalenka not playing at the China Open, there has been a lot of conversation around Swiatek closing the gap on the world number one ranking.
Swiatek has claimed she is not focusing on becoming world number one, but the crowds at the China Open have certainly caught her attention.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty ImagesIga Swiatek explains what is different about Chinese tennis fans
Swiatek missed the entirety of the Asian swing last year, and is now looking to finish her season in style in China before the year-end WTA Finals.
The Pole spent very little time on court for her third round match against Camila Osorio, with her opponent retiring after the first set due to injury.
As a result of the match only lasting 40 minutes, Swiatek spent longer with the fans on the Lotus Court at the China Open.
In her post-match press conference, Swiatek was then asked about the Chinese tennis fans, who she claims give her more support than any other fans other than her home Polish supporters.
However, Swiatek did admit that sometimes she has fans looking to receive her autograph at the hotel where she is staying, which the six-time Grand Slam champion suggested she was not too keen on.
“Yeah, for sure there’s a big difference,” Swiatek said when asked about the difference in cultures. “I feel like they’re much more enthusiastic and, like, positive. They give you their support no matter what’s happening. Even if you say, Okay, I got to go, they still shout positive things to you, which maybe sometimes wouldn’t happen in other countries.
“Yeah, I really appreciate everything that they’re doing for me. Also the gifts, they’re really thoughtful, putting a lot of time into it. Today the match was short. I wasn’t feeling, like, super tired. I thought it would be nice to spend more time with them.
“But yeah, there are moments, for example at the hotel, where I’m like, Guys, I’m going to be on-site, there is the place where I work, so I’m going to do some signatures there. There are some places where you want some privacy.
“Overall the support is amazing. I think the biggest kind of that I get on the whole tour. I don’t really know why, but people are really nice. I really appreciate that. Maybe except Poland. But I’m not playing tournaments there.”
Iga Swiatek vs Emma Navarro Head-to-Head
Swiatek has now won all eight of her career matches at the China Open, and she has only dropped three games in her two matches at the tournament so far this year.
Next up for the Pole is Emma Navarro, who seems like a step up in opponent as the 16th seed, but Swiatek is likely to be quietly confident given their head-to-head.
In their two previous meetings, Swiatek has beaten Navarro both times in straight sets and has only dropped a combined five games.
YearTournamentResult2018Charleston Open (R32)Swiatek beat Navarro, 6-0 6-22025Australian Open (QF)Swiatek beat Navarro, 6-1 6-2
This includes a quarterfinal meeting at the Australian Open earlier this year, but there is one key difference to their previous matches.
Swiatek has been very outspoken against the current tennis calendar, and Navarro may be able to take advantage of the amount of matches her opponent has played in recent weeks.