Daijiworld Media Network - Beijing

Beijing, Oct 5: Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek produced a stunning comeback from a set and two breaks down to defeat 30th seed Donna Vekic in the round of 32 at the China Open here on Monday.

Swiatek lost the opening set 4-6 and trailed 2-5 in the second before fighting back to win 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2 and seal her place in the round of 16.

"I was just really pissed," Swiatek told broadcasters after the match when asked how she felt after dropping the first set. "I thought I wasn’t playing bad, but for sure it wasn’t enough. I made some mistakes. I was just angry. I wanted to change something. Clearly it wasn’t working. The beginning of the second set was tough. Later on, I figured it out. I’m really happy about that."

Swiatek lost her serve in the third game of the match and struggled to create a break opportunity against Vekic as the Croatian took the opening set 6-4.

The eighth-seeded Pole's chances of staging a comeback appeared to diminish further when she dropped serve twice in the second set to fall 2-5 behind.

However, Swiatek raised her level and broke Vekic twice to level the set at 5-5. Both players then held serve to force a tie-break, where Swiatek dominated and won it without dropping a single point.

With momentum firmly on her side, Swiatek and Vekic exchanged breaks at the start of the deciding set. The Pole then secured another break at 3-2 and took complete control of the contest.

She held serve and broke Vekic again before closing out the third set 6-2 to complete the comeback in two hours and 40 minutes.

Swiatek will next face American teenager Iva Jovic, who defeated Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 7-5 in their round-of-32 clash.

Jovic will face a formidable challenge against Swiatek, who won the China Open title in 2023.