The leader in the world ranking of tennis Iga Swiatek (Poland) qualified for the fourth round of the WTA 1000 Rome Open. The Polish player defeated Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) by 2-0 (6:2, 6:0) in just 77 minutes of play, winning 12 straight games for the second consecutive match.
Surprisingly, Lesia Tsurenko opened the match with a break and then took her first serve to take a 2:0 lead. However, until the end of the match, the Ukrainian did not win a single game, and Iga Swiatek now has three won sets to zero in a total of four played at the tournament in the Italian capital.
In the next round, the two-time Roland Garros champion will face Donna Vekic (Croatia), who defeated Liudmila Samsonova (Russia) by 2-1 (2:6, 7:6, 6:2).
The 7th-seeded Elena Rybakina also advanced to the fourth round in Rome. The Kazakhstani tennis player lead by 4:3 against Anna Kalinskaya when the Russian withdrew due to injury.
In the next round, Elena Rybakina will face Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic), who defeated the 9th-seeded Maria Sakkari (Greece) by 2-0 (7:5, 6:3).
In a clash between two former Roland Garros champions, Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) defeated Barbora Krejcíkova (Czech republic) by 2-0 (7:6, 6:0). Barbora Krejcíkova had a 5:1 lead in the first set, but was unable to get anything going with her lead and eventually conceded a loss.
For a place in the quarterfinals, Jelena Ostapenko will play versus Daria Kasatkina (Russia), who won by 2-1 (7:5, 4:6, 7:6) over Julia Grabher (Austria).
The Spaniard Paula Badosa, as well as the Czechs players Marie Bouzkova and Karolína Muchova also advanced in the tournament, and Marie Bouzkova’s success was particularly impressive, prevailing by 2-1 (4:6, 6:2, 6:2) over the American Cori Coco Gauff (USA).