Iga Swiatek struggled but managed to fend off Linda Noskova 7-6 (4) 4-6 7-5 to keep Poland alive in their quarterfinal tie against the Czech Republic at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
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On Saturday evening, Marie Bouzkova edged out Magdalena Frech 6-1 4-6 6-4 to give the Czechs an early lead. That meant that the Poles needed the five-time Grand Slam champion to come up big for them in the second match or otherwise they would go home.
If you remember, Noskova shocked Swiatek in the Australian Open third round earlier this year and was also up by a set in Miami before the world No. 2 came back to win in three sets. And again, she made the former world No. 1 work extremely hard although she was the big underdog in their matchup.
Swiatek just barely survived the Noskova challenge; will she now play doubles?
After taking the Czech's serve in the very first game of the match, the world No. 2 had a chance to go up by a double break in the seventh game but didn't convert a break point. That's when things started to get complicated for the Pole.
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Firstly, she got broken back in the eighth game. Three games later, Swiatek managed to get another break but then failed to serve out for the first set in the 12th game as Noskova stunningly forced a tie-break.
Fortunately for the five-time Grand Slam winner, she bounced back by winning the opening three points of the tie-break and later sealing it after realizing her first three set points.
After a turbulent end to the first set, the second set was pretty calm until the ninth game, when Noskova earned a break to go 5-4 up before serving out for a decider in the following game.
Early in the third set, Swiatek led 4-1 but that wasn't enough for her to routinely close out the decider after allowing the 19-year-old to get back into the set and tie it to four games apiece.
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But when it mattered the most, the Pole came up big and broke Noskova in the 12th game, when the 19-year-old was serving to stay in the match.
Now, a doubles match will decide the tie. It remains to be seen if Swiatek will be picked to play again.
