Clara Tauson was lost for words after completing a major upset in Montreal and sending Iga Swiatek home as the No. 16 seed just used the word "unreal" to describe how she felt about her win.
On Sunday, the top-ranked Danish female tennis player entered as the big underdog against Swiatek, who had been coming off a Wimbledon triumph and had won her last nine matches. But right from the start when she claimed an early break, the 22-year-old Dane showed that she came to play and that ultimately resulted in a 7-6 (1) 6-3 win.
Before beating the six-time Grand Slam champion in Montreal, Tauson had been 0-3 against the Pole. When asked how it felt to get her first win over the former world No. 1, the Danish player responded: "Unreal. Totally unreal."
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Tauson explains what she did differently this time against Swiatek
As mentioned above, Tauson lost to Swiatek three times in the past, including a 4-6 1-6 loss at this past Wimbledon. Also, the Pole recorded a 6-3 7-6 (7) win in their 2019 Billie Jean King Cup meeting and a 6-7 (3) 6-2 6-1 victory in their 2022 Indian Wells clash. After analyzing their previous experience, the Danish No. 16 seed figured out that she had to try to stay locked in the entire time and keep up with the same intensity.
"I played Iga three times before, and I've been close two of the times. Yeah, I just felt like after I won the first set that I needed to continue, because I know she's never going to give up, and she's going to come out firing no matter what," the No. 16 seed explained.
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"I think obviously getting a win against her after losing to her in Wimbledon and a couple of weeks ago is obviously nice, because I was not feeling great in that match, and I felt like I was playing some good tennis in Wimbledon. So I felt like if I could keep that going, I thought I had a shot. It's really nice to sit here now."
Tauson plays against Madison Keys for a place in the Montreal semifinal.
