Rome Italy) – A week after winning the WTA 1000 in Madrid, Iga Swiatek continues his good form on clay and is already in the round of 16 in Rome. In her second game at the Italian tournament, the world number 1 once again confirmed her broad favoritism, despite the difficulties in the second set, and beat Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, 41st in the ranking, this Saturday morning, by 6/3 and 6/ 4 in 1h45 of departure.
Two-time clay champion in Rome in 2021 and 2022, Swiatek has so far conceded just nine games in the current edition of the tournament, as only had lost two games to the North American Bernarda Pera last Thursday. The 22-year-old Polish player is the player with the most victories in the current season on the circuit, having won 34 of the 38 games she has played and already has three titles this year, in Doha, Indian Wells and Madrid.
Swiatek’s opponent in the round of 16 will come from the match between the German Angelique Kerber, former number 1 and who used the protected ranking to enter the group, and the Belarusian from the quali Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 72nd placed. The Pole won the two previous duels against Kerber, the first in 2022 in Indian Wells and the most recent in January at the United Cup. A duel with Sasnovich would be unprecedented.
Eliminated this Saturday, Putintseva continues without having won a set against Swiatek in four matches on the circuit. They also faced each other in the 2021 season in Ostrava and also in last year’s United Cup and this year’s WTA 1000 Indian Wells. The 29-year-old Kazakh and 41st in the ranking had a good campaign in Madrid, where she reached the quarterfinals.
First set had just one break and Iga started behind in the 2nd
The first set had just one break, with Swiatek not facing any break points. Firm in her service games, the Pole also tried to be effective in returns, creating the first opportunities right at the beginning of the match. Putintseva tried not to give rhythm in rallies, using higher balls with her forehand and also some short ones.
The break happened precisely when Swiatek managed to get a good drop-shot executed by the Kazakh and defined the point with a counter-left to make it 4/2. The world number 1 would still have a new chance to break two games later, when she won 5/2, but it would only define the partial on her serve. She went 13 to 9 on winners and each player made 11 errors.
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In the second set, the world number 1 needed to show power to react. After starting the partial by making many unforced errors with her forehand, she suffered a break and lost 3/0. Putintseva led 4/1 and had many chances to widen the gap.
Swiatek saved four break-points in the sixth game of the partial, one of them with a great serve in the middle, and little by little he regained the ideal ball time to regain control of the match. Putintseva, in turn, showed clear signs of frustration with the missed opportunities and soon conceded the draw. The world number 1 knew how to take advantage of the good moment and managed a new break, taking the lead on the scoreboard, and won the last five games of the match. Swiatek led the winners statistics 25 to 15 and committed 24 errors against 21.
