Noskova won thanks to mentality & Melbourne is too fast for Swiatek, says expert Koukalova
Although Noskova entered the match as the 50th player in the WTA rankings, she had better statistics in almost all aspects of her game in Saturday's match with Swiatek at Rod Laver Arena.
"It was a victory of mentality. Hats off to the way Linda (Noskova) handled that match.
"Not only did she turn the game around from 0-1 to 2-1, but she was able to react to the flow of the game and was mentally stronger at key moments.
"This match just showed that she has the best conditions to become a top player," said Koukalova, who won three WTA tournaments in her career.
Flashscore: It seemed that Swiatek was not playing in full comfort. Did Noskova's performance exaggerate this?
"Swiatek was already struggling a bit in the second round when she reversed from 1-4 in the third set with Collins. But that doesn't diminish Noskova's performance at all. She beat the world number one in a Grand Slam.
"It's usually in the end of the game where the toughest moments come, but she played that with absolute confidence. She managed a very difficult ending where she was down 30-0 at 5-4 on serve. Anyone else could have fallen apart, but Linda showed the mentality I'm talking about here. She helped herself with her serve, her ace and played four points in a row."
Noskova's game tends to be aggressive, but the same is true of Swiatek, who tends to be very dominant in her matches. But this time Noskova registered more winners than the best player in the world...
"I think she felt she was just playing well. And even though she was up against the world number one, she believed she could beat her. She was coming out with some really tough forehand winners. Obviously, a player can feel when she's outplaying someone that her serve is working and she can sense the other person's discomfort. Then it's easier to play uninhibited during the match. But then, of course, the key was the finish. There, it was all about psyche, to handle the pressure that gets to your head."
Noskova will now face Elina Svitolina. How much of a chance does she have in the fourth round?
"It will be a different tennis again. Svitolina is more of a defensive player, she has a better backhand. But at the same time, she is quite hungry, she has a clear head, she has nothing to lose as she is coming back after a maternity break. It's going to be another terribly tough match, Elina is experienced and I'm sure she's going to take that match to Linda and it's going to be a very tactical game from her."
What will be important for that next match?
"I think Linda is in a good frame of mind, even though she has now played two three-set matches in a row. It's going to be more about staying in a routine, and trusting what works. And you'll need to switch your head off after such a tough match - although, obviously, it's going to be very tough. She's going to get a billion messages now, and that win over Swiatek will get a lot of media coverage."
Swiatek has never won the Australian Open. Why is the environment in Melbourne so uncomfortable for her?
"I don't think there's anything completely wrong. And even though people talk about Swiatek being mentally very strong, there is a lot of pressure on her as the world number one. All those players who are going to play against her, they just have nothing to lose and are able to pull out their best tennis.
"She often played very inaccurately against Noskova. But the truth is that the courts in Melbourne are quite fast and don't have the high bounce that Iga needs to dictate the game."