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Superb Swiatek races into third round at Australian Open
/ Photo: © AFP
Superb Swiatek races into third round at Australian Open
Iga Swiatek raced into the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday with a 6-0, 6-2 demolition of Rebecca Sramkova, taking another step on the road to redemption after a doping ban last year.
Second seed Swiatek broke the Slovakian's first service game and never looked back.
World number 49 Sramkova was playing in the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time and had no answer to the precision and power of the Pole.
Swiatek won 64 percent of points off the Slovakian's first serve in an opening set that lasted 27 minutes, the Pole dropping just 10 points.
Sramkova finally got on the board in the eighth game of the match, to huge cheers from the sympathetic Rod Laver Arena crowd.
But Swiatek remained in total control, closing out a comprehensive victory after exactly one hour on court.
"I felt really solid today and it was a really efficient game," said Swiatek. "I'm happy that I kept my focus."
Swiatek will face former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who beat Amanda Anisimova, for a place in the last 16.
The Pole is taking a different approach this season with new coach Wim Fissette as she targets a first Australian Open title.
The five-time Grand Slam winner lost her top ranking to defending champion Aryna Sabalenka last season after a one-month doping ban.
She has a poor record in Melbourne, only once progressing beyond the fourth round in 2022, when she lost in the semi-finals.
Swiatek now has Naomi Osaka's former coach Fissette in her corner after hooking up with the Belgian towards the end of last year.
He has installed a hitting partner for Swiatek, the first time she has used one in Australia, and she said the partnership was working well.
"He's been great," said Swiatek. "I feel like he's really supportive.
"And you know being on the women's tour, I think it's not easy especially when most of the coaches are men. They also need to understand what we go through sometimes.
"I feel like Wim is doing that very well."
Swiatek pulled out of the WTA's late-season Asian swing in 2024 citing "personal matters" only for it later to emerge she had been under a one-month suspension for testing positive for a banned heart medication. She denies knowingly doping.
E.Walker--SFF
