No. 1 Iga Swiatek smashes into Australian Open third round
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland excellently won 6-2, 6-3 over Camila Osorio of Colombia in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Swiatek missed serve three times but was locked in to break Osorio’s serve six times in a one hour and 24 minute win at Rod Laver Arena.
“She didn’t give me many free points,” Swiatek said. “So I needed to really work on each of them and it was tough, but I’m glad I took the initiative and tried to play a little bit to put some pressure on (for her). But I’m happy that I won and can play in the next round.”
The win moves Swiatek one step closer to the semifinals against American third-seeded Jessica Pegula, who defeated Swiatek in consecutive sets in the United Cup.
All on 1GA Express
Top seed Swiatek has won 2️⃣2️⃣ in her last 25 games! @iga_swiatek • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/pFb3TlAb8A
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2023
Pegula won six straight games in consecutive sets and returned to action on Friday, as did Swiatek. Pegula easily handled Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) on Wednesday.
“My game really fits the conditions,” says Pegula. “The trials went pretty quickly. The ball is quite low. I’m pretty flat so I like that I can get a good beat and pretty much go through the court. So I feel like the conditions suit my game really well.
American seventh seed Coco Gauff also advanced on Wednesday, knocking out England’s Emma Raducanu 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Gauff capitalized on 42 errors from Raducanu, who said the ankle injury that forced her to withdraw from the ASB Classic in Auckland was problematic. During Wednesday’s playout, she repeatedly touched her stomach and hips.
“Thirteen days ago… my chances of getting into this tournament were very, very low,” Raducanu said. “I have extremely limited practice time and I think I can say I’m not playing now, but that will be an incentive to get me on the field.”
In another match between the seeded players, Varvara Gracheva defeated the 8th seed and fellow Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-1. Other winners include Greece’s No. 6 Maria Sakkari, No. 10 Madison Keys and No. 17 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.
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