Mutua Madrid Open: Iga Swiatek's brisk triumph sees her enter pre-quarters



by ABBEY JOHNSON

Mutua Madrid Open: Iga Swiatek's brisk triumph sees her enter pre-quarters

Iga Swiatek made it to the fourth round of the Mutua Madrid Open without any problems on Sunday. The top seed needed an hour and 15 minutes to get through against 28th seed Bernarda Pera, 6-3, 6-2. Swiatek won 78% of her first-serve points to her opponent’s 60%.

She also won 67% of her second-serve points and 74% points on return on the latter’s second serve. Swiatek faced one break point and dropped her serve just once in the opening game of the opening set. She went on to convert four break points on Pera’s serve.

Swiatek finished the match 16 winners to Pera’s 12 and had just nine unforced errors to the latter’s 25. Despite hitting the ground hard against Pera, Swiatek downplayed the way the proceedings went for her, post-match.

She said, “I wouldn't say it was easy. Every match is tricky here. I'm happy that I'm getting my rhythm. Playing against a lefty is never easy... but I'm pretty happy that I was disciplined and focused”. In the round-of-16, Swiatek will play 16th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Alexandrova got past 22nd seed Qinwen Zheng after coming from a set down, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Mutua Madrid Open: Jessica Pegula dominant

Jessica Pegula needed over two hours to get the better of 29th seed Marie Bouzkova. The third-seeded American won 6-4, 7-6(2).

Although the match was wrapped up in straight sets, it took a lot of effort on Pegula’s part for this to occur. This was reflected in one of the stats of the match. The 29-year-old saved 12 of 14 break points she faced throughout the match to come out on top at the end.

Looking to make it to the quarters, Pegula will now take on 18th seed Martina Trevisan. The Italian defeated Pegula’s compatriot, Alycia Parks 7-6(3), 6-1 in their third-round match. Daria Kasatkina won 6-4, 6-2 against Lesia Tsurenko in their round-of-32 meeting.

The eighth seed’s next opponent will be 12th seed Veronika Kudermetova. Kudermetova won against 21st seed Anastasia Potapova 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3. Barbora Krejcikova and Petra Martic will play each other in the round-of-16 at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Krejcikova, the 11th seed won her third round 6-4, 6-1 against Xiyu Wang. Meanwhile, the 27th seed from Croatia beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Photo Credit: Mutua Madrid Open Twitter

Iga Swiatek Daria Kasatkina Martina Trevisan