Often Iga Swiatek is the one allotting the bagels.
In recent times, the five-time main champion has turn into recognized for the ruthless method of her victories, subjecting many opponents to the final word embarrassment of shedding a set with out successful a sport.
Now 23-year-old Swiatek finds herself within the place of being on the unsuitable finish of a 6-0 scoreline – having misplaced to Jelena Ostapenko for the sixth time in a row.
Ostapenko prolonged her flawless head-to-head report towards the world quantity two within the Stuttgart quarter-finals on Saturday.
So what’s behind the one-sided outcomes?
Having received the 2017 French Open, Ostapenko definitely has the pedigree and her explosive ball-bashing – when it really works, and the winners outweigh the unforced errors – can have devastating penalties.
Swiatek has encountered hassle towards aggressive ball-strikers, too, in order that provides additional weight to the reason.
You additionally wonder if there’s a psychological block towards an opponent who a participant is aware of has their quantity.
Swiatek disputed that afterwards, saying her head “was rather more clear” towards Ostapenko in Stuttgart than her earlier defeats.
Whereas the agony was extended in Stuttgart, you possibly can’t think about a participant of Swiatek’s high quality will undergo a career-spanning hex.
There’s a lengthy solution to go till Swiatek enters the dialog of being on the receiving finish of probably the most dominant head-to-head report.
Gael Monfils has misplaced all 20 of his matches (to this point) towards Novak Djokovic, whereas Richard Gasquet’s 18-0 report towards Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer’s 14-0 towards Roger Federer are different notable lopsided match-ups in recent times.
In actual fact, Swiatek may shake off the hex as early as subsequent week, with Ostapenko slated to be a potential last-16 opponent in Madrid.
