Iga Swiatek breezed into the Dubai Tennis Championships last 16 with an emphatic victory over Victoria Azarenka. (More Sports News)
🗹After seeing her match delayed by over four hours due to rain on Tuesday, Swiatek was in no mood to hang around, surging to a 6-0 6-2 win in one hour and 13 minutes.
𒉰Swiatek, a beaten finalist in the 2023 edition of the tournament, started the match by serving to love before dominating the opening set.
✱The Pole was a break up in the second before Azarenka got her first game on the board with a break of her own.
💖But Swiatek responded in style, winning four of the final five games to set up a meeting with Dayana Yastremska in the next round.
🐈"She's a legend. I have so much respect for her. Her career is outstanding. She’s still playing super good," said Swiatek.
💛"I just wanted to be ready. We have played a couple of times, so I was aware of how she plays, but I was ready for everything.
🌟"I am just happy that I was very solid, focused and in the zone."
Data Debrief: No early slip-ups from Swiatek
𝓡After suffering a shock defeat to Jelena Ostapenko at the Qatar Open last week, Swiatek ensured she responded in style.
ಞSwiatek (90.9%) now holds the best win percentage in opening matches at WTA-1000 events since the format's introduction in 2009 (minimum five main-draw appearances).
𓆏The world number two has also equalled Kim Clijsters on 51 for the most consecutive tournaments played in the 21st century without suffering a first-round defeat.
꧃After her dominant showing in the opening set, Swiatek picked up her 28th 6-0 scoreline in a WTA-1000 event. Only Azarenka (33), Caroline Wozniacki (31) and Simona Halep (29) have won more sets by that margin in the format.
