It took 30 attempts to make Magda Linette’s dreams come true. On Wednesday, the unranked Pole made his way to the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
Polish Unranked Magda Linette was responsible for the biggest surprise of the tennis Australian Open on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old Pole, who rose to the top late, passed the former world number one player, the Czech, to the stands in the quarterfinals Karolina Pliskova in chapters 6–3, 7–5. The Pole is playing his 30th career Grand Slam, but this is the first time he has been seen in the top eight.
– This is incredible, my dreams came true. I will never forget this, Linette stated immediately after the match.
The Pole, who is still ranked 45th in the world rankings, did not show at any point that he is playing in the top eight for the first time at this level.
– I used my place and tried to stay focused. The tournament is still in progress, so I’m trying not to get too excited.
The Poles have previously reached the semifinals of the Australian Open Iga Swiatek and Agnieszka Radwanskawho encouraged their countrymen now in the stands.
It is no surprise that the Polish women’s player will be seen in the semi-finals in Melbourne, but before the tournament it was expected to be number one and world number one Swiatek. However, he bowed out in the fourth round.
Opponent super disappointed
Pliskova’s serve let her down at important moments. He had advanced to the quarterfinals with 28 aces and hadn’t lost a set along the way.
– I’m super disappointed. “I thought this game was one I could win,” Pliskova, ranked 30th in the tournament, summed up after the game.
The Czech, who appeared in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the fourth time, also gave recognition to his opponent. Before Wednesday’s quarter-final, Pliskova had won the pair’s meetings with a balance of 7/9.
– Belief in one’s own abilities and self-confidence are the most important things – now he has them. It wasn’t easy for me, because Magda played a really good basic game.
Hard scalps on the way to the semi-finals
In addition to Pliskova, Linette has also brought other tough names to the stands in this year’s first Grand Slam tournament. Estonians, among others, have experienced the Polish rise Anett Kontaveit (WTA-19), Russian Yekaterina Alexandrova (WTA-18) and the Frenchman who won last year’s WTA final tournament Caroline Garcia (WTA-4).
With the semifinal victory, Linette will rise to the top 30 on the world list for the first time. He was first seen in the world top 100 in 2015 when he peaked at 64th, but has not been seen higher than 33rd since then (as of 2020).
The knee failed two years ago
The rise of the Polish sensation to the sharpest peak is like something from a Hollywood movie, because two years ago he suffered from severe chronic knee pain during the Australian Open. Although the knee had symptoms for 11 weeks, he was participating in the Melbourne tournament. However, the day before the flight to Australia, his knee gave out and he was unable to walk. Surgery was ahead.
– I had surgery and the next day I withdrew from the tournament. I already had a flight and a hotel room booked. Other players complained about the corona isolation during the tournament, but I was jealous because I would have liked to have participated, Linette commented on the events of two years ago According to The Guardian. (you switch to another service)
It is not at all unusual that an unranked player has advanced to the women’s singles semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament. Last year, three such cases were seen when Madison Keys (Australia), Martina Trevisan (France) and Tatiana Maria (Wimbledon) progressed to the top four in the value tournaments.
In the semifinals, the Pole will meet Arina Sabalenkan, who hasn’t lost a single set yet in this year’s Australian Open. Fifth-placed Belarus beat unranked Serbia in the quarterfinals By Donna Vekic convincingly 6–3, 6–2.