- Mubadala Citi DC Open Men’s and Women’s Tennis Draws
- Paris Olympic Tennis Draws and Order Of Play for Saturday, July 27, 2024
- Kitzbuhel Generali Open Draws and Order of Play for Friday, July 26, 2024
- Paris Olympic Tennis Singles and Doubles Draws
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Friday, July 26, 2024
- Atlanta Open Draws and Order of Play for Thursday, July 25, 2024
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Thursday, July 25, 2024
- Laver Cup Tennis 2024 Is in Berlin September 20-22 • Almost all the top men’s players will be playing
- Coco Gauff Named Team USA Flag Bearer for Olympic Games
- Kitzbuhel Generali Open Draws and Order of Play for Wednesday, July 24, 2024
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Wednesday, July 24, 2024
- Atlanta Open Draws and Order of Play for Tuesday, July 23, 2024
- Fils upsets Zverev for Hamburg title, Borges beats Nadal in Bastad
- Kitzbuhel Generali Open Draws and Order of Play for Tuesday, July 23, 2024
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Czech Teen Linda Noskova Shocks No. 1 Iga Swiatek in Australian Open Upset
- Updated: January 20, 2024
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.10sballs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Noskova-Swiatek-AndyCheung-Getty.jpg?w=615&ssl=1)
Armed with an abbreviated service motion, Iga Swiatek suffered disarming defeat in Melbourne.
In her maiden major third-round appearance, 19-year-old Czech Linda Noskova shocked Swiatek 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an Australian Open stunner.
The Czech teen snapped Swiatek’s 18-match winning streak and shattered the top seed’s 2024 AO dream.
A bold Noskova cracked 35 winners, including 10 aces, stamping the biggest win of her young career to improve to 7-1 on the season.
Awash in emotion afterward, Noskova sat in her court-side seat, pressed her face in her towel and shed tears of joy.
“I’m speechless, I knew it was going to be an amazing match with the world No. 1 and such a player, but I didn’t really think it would end up like this,” said Noskova, who suffered a crushing 6-1, 6-4 loss to Swiatek in their lone prior meeting in Warsaw last season. ““The match was obviously really, really tough…
“I think from the first time that I saw I was going to play her I was just thinking about this match for two days in a row. I was just trying to prepare myself mentally, I’m just really glad to get through this round.”
The top-seeded Swiatek, who rallied from 1-4 down in the final set to defeat 2022 AO finalist Danielle Collins in a spirited second-round comeback, attributed the upset to two main reasons.
Swiatek said she lacked her typical sharp instinct reading the game and credited Noskova for playing proactive tennis on pivotal points.
“I felt like I had everything under control until she broke me in the second set,” Swiatek said. “But, yeah, well, I had couple of chances to break her in second set and I didn’t use them. So that’s a shame.
“But when she broke me, she was kind of proactive. I wanted to do that as well later in the next games. Sometimes, yeah, I was rushing it. I just wasn’t playing kind of with my intuition and naturally. I guess I’ll have to work on stuff to feel more comfortable next year.”
The 2022 AO semifinalist suffered her earliest Melbourne exit since a second-round loss in her 2019 debut.
Asked why she’s struggled a bit at Melbourne Park, the 2022 US Open champion said “Well, the surface is quicker. That’s all I’d say.”
Modifying her serve motion from a full traditional backswing to an abbreviated takeback, Swiatek battled, but dropped serve in the seventh game of the decider. Noskova won eight of her last 11 service points to close in two hours, 20 minutes and set up a fourth-round vs. 19th-seeded Elina Svitolina, who knocked Swiatek out of Wimbledon last summer.
The winner of the Noskova vs. Svitolina match will play either two-time former AO champion Victoria Azareka or Ukrainian qualifer Dayana Yastremska for a semifinal spot.