Rankings mean nothing when facing Raducanu in 3rd round, Swiatek says

MELBOURNE — Rankings are meaningless when you play Grand Slam champions such as Emma Raducanu, Iga Swiatek said on Thursday after setting up a clash with the Briton, ranked 61st, in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday.

World No 2 Swiatek, who crushed Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2 on a sunbathed Rod Laver Arena in the second round, is seeking her first Australian Open trophy.

Although she already has five major titles, Swiatek's best performance so far in Melbourne has been her 2022 semifinal loss to Danielle Collins.

Raducanu has struggled with injuries since her 2021 US Open triumph but on Thursday showed strong form to see off American Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-5 in her second-round clash.

"There's no point to look at rankings, especially when you have these great players that already have been through great tournaments and won some tournaments," Swiatek told reporters. "You know that they can play well."

Swiatek reigned as world No 1 for most of 2024 but slipped behind Aryna Sabalenka after a one-month doping ban around the WTA Finals in November cost her points and shook her confidence.

Starting the year as No 1, as she did in 2023 and 2024, put her under a lot of pressure from the beginning of the season, she said.

After the ban, that has changed.

"I realized last year that I don't have 100 percent influence on what happens with my ranking sometimes," Swiatek said.

"So now I just focus on tennis. If I play well, I know I'll be back at No 1.If I don't, and Aryna plays better, she'll be No 1."

Apart from Raducanu, Swiatek still has fourth seed Jasmine Paolini, sixth seed Elena Rybakina and eighth seed Emma Navarro as possible opponents in her half of the draw.

"I only know that I'm playing the next match with Raducanu and I'll prepare for it," Swiatek said.

"If I don't play well the day after tomorrow, I won't have the opportunity to play with other players."

Grilled by some pre-teen reporters at her media conference, the 23-year-old confessed that the times she had shed tears after losing matches were among her most embarrassing moments on court.

"Also, I went out on court once in Indian Wells with toilet paper sticking to my leg, like off my skirt," she said smiling. "Yeah, that was also embarrassing."

Underdog status

Raducanu is relishing a clash free of external pressure when she faces Swiatek on Saturday.

Swiatek "is a top player, she's been really consistent over the last quite a few years", Raducanu said. "So it's going to be a match for me where I feel like I don't really have much expectation externally.

"I think you always have the pressure that you put on yourself to perform to your best ability, which is not really going to change, but that's every match.

"I'm looking forward to going out there and testing my game against the best, because ultimately, you play tennis, and you live for these matches. It's going to be a great buzz of adrenaline."

The 22-year-old had never progressed beyond the second round at Melbourne Park and was slow out of the blocks against Anisimova, losing three of the opening four games before blitzing her way through the remainder of the set to win 6-3.

Raducanu made a similarly sluggish start to the second set and had courtside treatment on what appeared to be a left hip issue, returning to fight back and claim the match in straight sets.

After successive wins, the injury-plagued Englishwoman, who struggled with back issues in the build-up to the tournament, stressed she would take a relaxed approach to preparations for her meeting with Swiatek.

"I think I'll probably just take it easy tomorrow," she said. "I'll probably have a light hit. Nothing crazy.

"I've played a lot of tennis today and two days ago, so I don't think I need to overdo it on the practice court. Just to keep the body ticking over a little bit and just recover really."

Reuters