The final point said it all. An 11-shot rally that started with a Kaia Kanepi serve and finished with Iga Swiatek’s racket somewhere other than in her hand. Poland’s world No 9 had spent the intervening 19 seconds stretching, sliding and almost slipping, but still somehow conjuring answers to each question set by her aggressor up the other end.
“Defensive” can mean all manner of things. An over-concern with self-justification. A means of driving a car safely. A negative way of playing football. In Swiatek’s case it was steely resolve, the bedrock of her three-hour passage to a second grand slam singles semi-final and first on a hard court.
