No. 6 of '22: Iga Swiatek was the best this season—and she brought out the best in Barbora Krejcikova

HIGHLIGHTS: Barbora Krejcikova d. Iga Swiatek 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3, Agel Open final

Iga Swiatek had one of the best seasons of the Open Era in 2022. She won two majors on two different surfaces. She tore through 37 straight victories. She made nine finals and won eight of them, six in blowout fashion.

The problem, as far as this list is concerned, is that Swiatek was a little too good. When you win as easily as she did, you don’t tend to play many competitive matches, let alone classic ones. Those are more likely to come in the rare cases when you lose. During a brief summer slump, Swiatek lost to Caroline Garcia 6-4 in the third set, and Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-5 in the third. But quality-wise and drama-wise, those paled in comparison to her three-set, three-hour defeat at the hands of a resurgent Barbora Krejcikova in the Ostrava final.

When it was over, Krejcikova acknowledged that even in defeat, Swiatek had played a big role in her own winning performance.

“Thank you bringing out the best in me,” Krejcikova told Swiatek afterward.

“The best” was an apt description not only for Krejcikova’s play, but for this final as well. Over three hours and 16 minutes, there was hardly a dull moment or a let-up from either player.

Maybe it had something to do with the raucously even-handed energy in the arena. Ostrava is in Krejcikova’s home country, but it’s just a two-hour drive from Swiatek’s hometown of Krakow. The two women each received a huge ovation at the start, and remained co-crowd favorites throughout.

“The atmosphere was just very energetic and very unbelievable for both sides,” Krejcikova said. “It’s really one of the top matches that I think I ever played in my life.”

It was also a rare and hard-earned achievement. Swiatek was 10-0, and 20-0 in sets, in her last 10 finals; she hadn’t lost one since 2019. Krejcikova, meanwhile, had struggled with injuries and rust in 2022; No. 2 in the world a year ago, she came into this tournament unseeded and ranked 23rd. She had lost twice to Swiatek in 2022; in their most recent meeting, in Rome, she had squandered a match point.

For the first two hours in Ostrava, it looked like Krejcikova would face heartbreak again. In the first set, she bounced back from a 2-5 deficit to level at 5-5, before losing 7-5. In the second set, she went up a break, only to see Swiatek even it at 4-4, and pull to within two points of the title at 5-6, 30-30.

This time, for the only time all year in a final, the world No. 1 would be denied those last two points. Krejcikova held serve to force a tiebreaker, and then Swiatek suffered a surprising spasm of inconsistency. She started the breaker by missing two forehands wide, and Krejcikova took over from there, closing with a forehand winner.

By the third set, Krejcikova had her vast, doubles-honed repertoire of shots working for her. With Swiatek serving at 3-4, 0-15, Krejcikova sliced a forehand return low, then drove a forehand pass down the line for a winner. At 0-30, she did it again. Serving for the match at 5-3, Krejcikova had to survive Swiatek’s final, desperate, brilliant stand. The Pole saved five match points; after the fifth, she smiled and raised her arms to try to bring her supporters to life. But this was Krejcikova’s day, and she finally closed it out, on her sixth match point, in the only way she could: With an ace.

“I was just like, ‘OK, keep going,’” Krejcikova said of her mindset in the long last game. “It’s going to be fine. You’re going to get your chance. You’re going to make it.’ So that was my inner voice.”

It’s really one of the top matches that I think I ever played in my life. Barbora Krejcikova

Krejcikova did make it. While this would be her final singles win of 2022, she seems primed to return to the Top 10 next season. The game can use her mix of racquet skills, athleticism, creative shot-making, rolling topspin ground strokes, and good instincts at net.

Swiatek shed a tear or two in defeat, but she also recognized what her opponent brings to the court, and to the game.

“We need players like you in the WTA for sure,” Swiatek said of Krejcikova.

Players, in other words, who can challenge Swiatek, and team with her to produce matches like this.