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Iga Swiatek pulled off something that is almost never seen and afterward said she was just happy that she was able to bounce back quickly after a rusty start to her Rome match against Lesia Tsurenko. Swiatek, seeded at No 1, started her Rome third-round match by losing the first two games against 68th-ranked Tsurenko.
Then, Swiatek won the next 12 games to seal a dominant 6-2 6-0 win over Tsurenko. A match earlier, Swiatek crushed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0 6-0. Swiatek's opening two wins in Rome were quite something. "After a pretty rusty start, I was able to break back pretty quickly, so I'm happy that I played solid game.
Just have another experience playing on center court, and I'm happy that it wasn't raining," Swiatek said, per the WTA website.
Tsurenko thanked Swiatek after the match
After being dismantled by Swiatek, Tsurenko touched the Ukrainian flag on her shirt as they were shaking hands at the net.
Over the last 15 months, Swiatek has been very outspoken in her support for Ukraine. Tsurenko deeply appreciates Swiatek's efforts to help Ukraine and she thanked the Pole after their match. When Swiatek was asked about Tsurenko's act, the Pole said there was really no need for the Ukrainian to be thanking her.
“She thanked me for supporting Ukraine, but she did it also before in Miami. It’s really nice and I really appreciate that. Well, I think there’s nothing to kind of thank for because for me it’s pretty obvious that we should support Ukraine.
Yeah, I will do that until the war is going to end. But I know that they are in a tough situation, so I have a lot of empathy to all the Ukrainian players," Swiatek said. Swiatek's Rome title defense is off to a stunning start. In her next match, Swiatek plays either Donna Vekic, who defeated Liudmila Samsonova.