After a near three-hour struggle, Poland’s Iga Świątek defeated player Czech Barbara Krejčíková 3:6, 7:6 (7-5), 7:5 and advanced to the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 tennis tournament on clay courts in Rome.

Świątek comfortably defeated Krejčíková in March on the hard courts in Miami. This time, however, the Czech representative gave the young Polish player a run for her money.

Thursday’s match was tightly contested from the outset. In the second set the cornered Pole defended two match points and managed to turn the set around. In the 12th game of the third set, Świątek won her second match point and finished the duel after 172 minutes of play.

Rebounded just in time ��@iga_swiatek outlasts Krejcikova in three sets to advance to the quarterfinals!#IBI21 pic.twitter.com/2Rt2w20QQb

— wta (@WTA) May 13, 2021

In the fight for a semi-final place, Świątek will face the winner of the duel between the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (seeded 5th) and the Spanish Garbiñe Muguruza (seeded 12th).

Earlier on in the tournmant, the Polish player eliminated Americans: Alison Riske, after the latter was forced to retire through injury, and Madison Keys, whom she defeated 7:5, 6:1.

Regardless of further results, Świątek will rise to at least 14th place in the world ranking on Monday, which will be the highest position in the 19-year-old Pole’s career.