Ashleigh Barty speaks extremely highly of Iga Swiatek ahead of Adelaide clash

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World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty is looking forward to clashing Iga Swiatek in Adelaide as she has nothing but good to say of the Pole. Barty, the 2020 Adelaide champion, is set to clash defending Adelaide champion Swiatek in the semiifnal.

It will be their second meeting on the WTA Tour. Barty and Swiatek clashed at the Madrid Masters last year and back then the Australian claimed a straight-set win over Pole. "I enjoy [Swiatek's] company. I enjoy her team's company," Barty said of Swiatek, per the WTA website.

"Playing her for the first time last year in Madrid was exciting for both of us."

Barty on what she needs to avoid against Swiatek

Barty is well aware of Swiatek's aggressive approach and she will try not to let the Pole dictate the points.

"The way she's aggressive on the ball, aggressive on the baseline, she moves exceptionally well, has a weight of shot that not many have," Barty said. "I think the challenge is trying to not let her control the point too much out of the center of the court and keep her moving and try to bring it back to my weapons, if I can." Swiatek is also looking forward to facing Barty as she is hoping the experience she gained by playing the Australian in Madrid last year will help her.

“These practices, our match in Madrid, it’s going to give me a lot of information,” Swiatek said. “Yeah, I feel more confident just because I feel like I’m more settled on tour and I can actually compete on highest level against those players.

In Madrid, for sure I was pretty nervous and not confident because of the altitude. Here I don’t have that factor. “It’s always a little bit more pressure on her. Hopefully I’m going to be able to use that”.