Iga Swiatek is still storming through the US Open, but faces her toughest task yet for a spot in the semi-finals.
After all, she is likely to get a much-improved version of Amanda Anisimova, after bludgeoning the American 6-0, 6-0 in the Wimbledon final earlier this summer.
That win marked the start of what has been a superb past few months for the six-time Grand Slam champion, who has shot herself into a position of genuine favourability to claim the title in New York.
And now, her successes have been made even more impressive given the context added by two pundits.
Iga Swiatek’s surprising summer schedule
Speaking about Carlos Alcaraz’s US Open run initially, comparing it to his shock second-round exit from the year prior, Catherine Whitaker began by noting: “The more I watch of this tournament this year and think about last year, the more I think, like, of course last year’s titles were won by players that didn’t play the Olympics.
“Like, I know Canada and Cincinnati extended in length this year, which hasn’t helped, but this year, the schedule has felt untenable, like ridiculous, like, of course, Carlos Alaraz had to take that break and not, not play Canada.
“Like, it is crazy that Iga Swiatek has played it all. Like, the fact that there was a whole Olympics in there last year!”
David Law interjected to add: “On a different surface!”
Whitaker then concluded: “What were we doing? Like, of course, Carlos Alcaraz has lost to Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round.
“And I think that we did know that at the time. Like, we were talking about the Olympics a lot. I’ve always wanted to talk about the Olympics, but looking back now, like, what were we doing? What was Tennis asking everybody to do?”
Such has been the miraculous continued form of the Polish player, even Laura Robson was left surprised by Swiatek earlier in the tournament.
Iga Swiatek has had the best summer of her career
If Iga Swiatek were to win the US Open, the suggestion that she has enjoyed the best summer of her career would be undeniable.
However, even if she loses to Anisimova and exits at the quarter-final stage, there’d still be a good argument for it.
After all, the way in which she has flipped the narrative on her career in a matter of months has been remarkable.
Ahead of Wimbledon, nobody gave her a chance. The 24-year-old was enduring a title drought that stretched back longer than 12 months, and she was heading to a Grand Slam that had historically been her worst-performing, due to her struggles with the surface.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Alas, she not only won that title in emphatic fashion, but went on to waltz to the title in Cincinnati too for the very first time.
It has been a genuinely heroic turnaround, and could still be capped off with the US Open crown too.