I have big trust in myself in terms of my physical shape: Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek

sparked a crazy scramble on the last point of her

Australian Open

quarterfinal against Estonia's

Kaia Kanepi

. The 20-year-old swung from corner to corner, reaching and stretching, stepping up and pushing back, with the urgency of a school girl flirting with the bell.


There were no shortcuts for Swiatek who on Wednesday made her first semifinal at

Melbourne Park

. She trailed Kanepi by a set and a break before coming through the last eight-clash 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 which went a minute over three-hours. It was the Pole's longest match on a major stage.

"I actually wanted to prolong some rallies, to make her more tired. I have big trust in myself in terms of my physical shape," she said. "This match showed that it's smart to trust myself in that matter."

Swiatek's Grand Slam breakthrough came without warning in 2020 at Roland Garros, where she won the title without dropping a set.

Swiatek had since learned to win when not at her best, like against Kanepi on Wednesday. She failed to convert even one of the four breakpoint opportunities she created in the first set. She also had 12 double-faults in the exchange, her most in a match.

The world No.9 said a player feels 'prefect' two times in a year perhaps.

"You've just got to go step by step and use what you have that day," Swiatek said. "If you're gonna think that on the other day this ball would go in, it doesn't really matter. You just have to find a way."

In the second of the last-four clashes scheduled for Thursday -- Swiatek plays American

Danielle Collins

, who is in her second semifinal at Melbourne Park. Collins, 28, the No.27 seed, stopped Alize Cornet's dream run with a 7-5, 6-1 victory. Swiatek and Collins will follow world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and American Madison keys onto the Rod Laver Arena.

Swiatek, who lives in Raszyn, a village in east central Poland, did her pre-season at home, where the temperature climbs from sub-zero chills to maybe single digits in the day in December.

"I did the whole pre-season in Poland because I had some stuff that I wanted to finish there, like getting a driver's license," the 20-year-old said. "My pre-season was pretty hard, but it was only a month. I always felt prepared physically. I'm going to see how the other factors are going to influence it. I'm optimistic."