Iga Swiatek makes fast start at Italian Open

ROME – Iga Swiatek swatted away her recent disappointment in blistering style when she dismissed Elisabetta Cocciaretto in just 52 minutes to open her account at the Italian Open on May 8.

The world No. 2 came to Italy on the back of a demoralising straight-set defeat by American Coco Gauff in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.

But the 23-year-old Pole dropped just a single game in winning 6-1, 6-0 against Italian world No. 82 Cocciaretto to move on to a third-round meeting with American Danielle Collins, who dispatched Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-3.

“I felt like the ball was kind of listening to me today and I had full control over the match, so it’s always pretty comfortable to play a match like that,” said Swiatek.

“You just need to continue the work you’ve been doing and not expect that it’s going to happen more often.”

Eighteen of her past 19 matches at the tournament were straight-set wins – the exception being when she retired from her 2023 quarter-final with Elena Rybakina.

The five-time Grand Slam champion, having notched her ninth 6-0 set in Rome, now has 33 “bagels” in WTA 1000 events, equalling Victoria Azarenka of Belarus for the most ever.

Swiatek is a three-time winner of the Italian Open and is using the clay-court tournament as a key step towards her defence of her French Open title, but she is yet to win a tournament this season.

Earlier, Naomi Osaka kept up her momentum on clay by beating Swiss lucky loser Viktorija Golubic 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 for her seventh straight win.

She was set to face ninth seed Paula Badosa in the second round on May 9, but the Spaniard withdrew due to a recurring back injury.

“It got to a point where I knew this was the last game,” said Osaka, who next faces either Brazilian No. 18 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia or the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova.

“I wanted her to prove to me why she should win. I thought, ‘I’m pretty sure I’m losing because I’m making errors. She’s not hitting winners on me. I’m just going to make her play the absolute best game of her life to win this match’.”

Osaka said the clay-court swing feels different this time as the four-time Grand Slam champion enters it with confidence following a run of victories.

The Japanese beat Slovenian Kaja Juvan 6-1, 7-5 last week in the final of the L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo – a WTA 125 tournament – to win her first clay-court title at any level. It was also her first WTA crown since becoming a mother in July 2023.

“I wanted to rack up experience on clay. I didn’t really have too much of an ego playing that tournament,” Osaka told reporters after defeating wild card Sara Errani 6-2, 6-3 in the first round on May 7.

“I’m okay playing on Court 16 if I have to, anyways. The reason I came back wasn’t to play on centre courts all the time, it’s because I really enjoy the game.”

Osaka said her decision to play in Saint-Malo was inspired by American great Andre Agassi, who rebuilt his career in the late 1990s by competing on the ATP Challenger Tour.

“I remember reading (Agassi’s) book. There was a moment where... he was saying he was flipping his own scoreboards. Someone came and yelled, ‘Image is everything!’, I would say that section of the book crossed my mind more,” she said.

The former world No. 1 has often struggled on clay, having never gone past the third round of the French Open, in which she is set to feature in the main draw later in May.

“I’m coming into it with a lot more wins. Obviously, I would say I’m a lot more comfortable on clay now... I feel like clay is very strength-reliant,” she said.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was also forced to withdraw due to a leg problem, so three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur advanced via walkover and will next face sixth seed Italian Jasmine Paolini.

Czech Kvitova, 35, secured her first victory since returning from maternity leave by defeating Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round. REUTERS