The Pole, more accustomed to breezing past
opponents with the odd "bagel" or 6-0 scoreline thrown in, had
struggled in Melbourne, enduring a first-set tiebreak in her
opener against Sofia Kenin before fighting back from the brink
of defeat to oust Danielle Collins last time out.
But it was not to be, as Noskova became the first teenager to
defeat the top-ranked player at the Australian Open since Amelie
Mauresmo toppled Lindsay Davenport in 1999.
"I'm speechless, I knew it was going to be an amazing match with
the world number one and such a player, but I didn't really
think it would end up like this," said Noskova.
The emotional 19-year-old crouched to the floor and put her
hands over her face when the big moment came and buried her head
in her towel later and cried.
"I'm just really glad to get through this round," she added.
Noskova had emerged as a tricky third-round opponent for Swiatek
with three top-10 wins under her belt, but the Pole had looked
in no mood to be dragged into another fight as she broke in the
sixth game and held to love in the next to take charge.
The 22-year-old Swiatek barely let the intensity drop after
taking the opening set as she forced the Melbourne Park debutant
into some uncomfortable positions in the second by working the
angles and launching big forehands.
But Noskova held firm, responding with some explosive hitting of
her own and breaking en route to levelling up the contest before
heaping the pressure on the four-times major champion to take a
2-1 lead in the decider.
Swiatek looked to have composed herself during a brief pause in
play as doctors attended to a sick supporter in the crowd and
broke back, but Noskova did not relent and got her nose in front
again to close out the match on serve and complete a huge upset.
"I was shaking a little," Noskova said about serving for the
victory. "I didn't hit two first serves which was not the best
start for me but I pulled out an ace."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Hugh
Lawson)
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