Iga Swiatek struggled but managed to fend off Linda Noskova 7-6 (4) 4-6 7-5 to keep Poland alive in their quarterfinal tie against the Czech Republic at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
On Saturday evening, Marie Bouzkova edged out Magdalena Frech 6-1 4-6 6-4 to give the Czechs an early lead. That meant that the Poles needed the five-time Grand Slam champion to come up big for them in the second match or otherwise they would go home.
If you remember, Noskova shocked Swiatek in the Australian Open third round earlier this year and was also up by a set in Miami before the world No. 2 came back to win in three sets. And again, she made the former world No. 1 work extremely hard although she was the big underdog in their matchup.
Swiatek just barely survived the Noskova challenge; will she now play doubles?
After taking the Czech’s serve in the very first game of the match, the world No. 2 had a chance to go up by a double break in the seventh game but didn’t convert a break point. That’s when things started to get complicated for the Pole.
Firstly, she got broken back in the eighth game. Three games later, Swiatek managed to get another break but then failed to serve out for the first set in the 12th game as…
