Rome Italy) – Iga Swiatek’s quest for a third WTA 1000 title in Rome began with a very quiet victory. After winning a dramatic final in Madrid last Saturday, in a 3h11 match against Aryna Sabalenka, the world number 1 debuted this Thursday in the Italian capital, beating the North American Bernarda Pera, 77th in the ranking, by 6 /0 and 6/2 in just 1h17 of departure.
This was Swiatek’s 33rd win in 37 games this season. The Pole has already won three WTA 1000s this year, in Doha, Indian Wells and Madrid. Playing in Rome, she won the 2021 and 2022 editions, but stopped in the quarterfinals last year, abandoning the match against Elena Rybakina due to an injury to her left thigh. Therefore, she will even have the chance to expand her difference to Sabalenka at the top of the rankingwhich is currently 3,412 points.
“It’s great to be back, I have great memories of the tournament. I had a great week in Madrid and this season has been very positive,” said Swiatek in the on-court interview. “The conditions are totally different to Madrid, it’s a different type of clay too and I feel like the ball is heavier and I needed to make some adjustments to my game. But I had two days to train on the practice courts and adapt.”
Eighth ‘tire’ in the current season and duel with Putintseva on Saturday
This season, Swiatek has already won seven partials with 6/0. The others were against Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka, Danielle Collins, Linda Noskova, Maria Sakkari, Sara Sorribes and Bia Haddad Maia, with the Brazilian being the only one to have won a set in these matches. Furthermore, playing in Rome since 2020, the Pole has won eight sets by this score. She highlighted the 2021 final, when she scored a double 6/0 against Czech Karolina Pliskova, then number 9 in the rankings.
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Overcome by Swiatek this Thursday, Pera went through two qualifying rounds, against the British Heather Watson and the Hungarian Anna Bondar, in addition to making her debut in the main draw, beating fellow American Caroline Dolehide. The 29-year-old left-hander has two WTA titles on clay, in Hamburg and Budapest in 2022, and was among the top 30 in the rankings in June last year.
As the top seed, Iga entered straight into the second round. Next Saturday’s opponent will be Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, 41st in the rankings, who defeated the American Sloane Stephens, 35th ranked, by 6/3 and 6/2. The world number 1 won all three matches she played against Putintseva on the tour and never lost a set. This year, they faced each other in the round of 16 at Indian Wells, with the Polish winning 6/1 and 6/2.
Dominance in the 1st set and long games in the second half
The first set of the match was largely dominated by Swiatek. Despite the slower and heavier conditions on the court, after a day of heavy rain in the Italian capital, the Polish player showed good movement in the deep rallies and knew how to control the weight of the ball so as not to make so many mistakes. She won the first set with three breaks and faced just one break-point, with 8 to 5 on winners and just 7 errors against 10 from Pera, who was trying to get rid of the ball and shorten the points as much as possible.
Pera managed to come back from zero on the scoreboard at the beginning of the second set. But the pressure on the American left-hander continued. She saved seven break points until Iga broke again to make it 3/1. The Polish woman regained control of the match and managed to break the lead again. Serving for the game, the world number 1 placed few first serves on the court and was a little more vulnerable to her rival’s more aggressive returns. She saved three break-points, but did not prevent her rival from returning one of the breaks. Still, the advantage built was comfortable enough to define the match in straight sets.
Pera ended the game with more winners, 13 to 11, but committed 28 unforced errors against 17. Swiatek created 15 break-points and managed six breaks, losing just one service game in the entire match.
