‘I wasn’t playing naturally’

Stunned World No. 1 Swiatek feels she was rushing her game in 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 loss to 50th ranked Noskova; Alcaraz enters Round 4

World number one Iga Swiatek said she had failed to play her “natural” game after her 18-match winning run came to a shuddering halt at the Australian Open on Saturday. 

The Polish top seed was beaten 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 in the third round by unseeded Czech teen Linda Noskova—ending her hopes of a first title in Melbourne. Just three of the top 10 women’s seeds remain in the draw in Melbourne at the end of the first week.

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Linda Noskova

A crestfallen Swiatek said she felt the match was under control until she was broken in the second set. “I was rushing it,” she said. “I just wasn’t playing kind of with my intuition and naturally. For sure I was more stressed than in other tournaments, especially the first two rounds,” she added. 

“But I think some things just didn’t work as they did before, even though I was working the same way. I feel like I did really everything I could in pre-season to improve some stuff that I wanted to.

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Carlos Alcaraz against Juncheng Shang in Melbourne on Saturday

“Then I came here and I wasn’t playing kind of natural anymore. I don’t know, like my split step was too late sometimes, reaction a little bit slower, some other things.” 

Noskova will face Ukrainian 19th seed Elina Svitolina in the last 16 on Monday.

A day after defending champion Novak Djokovic returned to top form, men’s World No. 2 Alcaraz laid down a marker in a lopsided contest against Chinese teenager Shang Juncheng lasting just 66 minutes. 

The 20-year-old, playing a tour-level match against a player younger than himself for the first time in his career, was leading 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 when his 18-year-old opponent had to retire. Shang entered the clash on Rod Laver Arena with his upper right thigh strapped and received treatment on the injury during the second set.
 
Dominant Alcaraz did not face a single break point to set up a last-16 meeting with Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, who saved two match points to beat last year’s semi-finalist Tommy Paul 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-0. 

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