Swiatek solves Karolina Pliskova, Marketa Vondrousova stops Caroline Wozniacki in Montreal
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Iga Swiatek hitting a return against Karolina Pliskova in their second-round match at the Canadian Open.
PHOTO: AFP
MONTREAL – World No. 1 Iga Swiatek admitted that she faced a “challenge” and needed a reset before running away with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 win over Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday to reach the third round of the Canadian Open.
The Pole was locked in a battle early against the Czech, but managed to stay in the match by winning most of the long rallies while displaying both a lethal forehand and solid court coverage.
“This first match was a challenge. It’s always a challenge especially against a player like that,” Swiatek said.
“She for sure used her experience in the first set, but I am happy that I could close it in a tiebreak. And, in the second set, I was more solid because I really wanted to reset, think about what I could do better and I am glad that I did that.”
She faced plenty of resistance from Pliskova in the hour-long first set, but managed to come back from 5-4 down to force a tiebreak where she again had to come from behind before sealing it when the Czech sent a forehand wide.
In the second set, Swiatek found a new gear and followed an early break with a hold to love to grab control and never looked back as her mix of power and control proved too much for Pliskova to overcome.
Up next for four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who will launch the defence of her US Open title later in August, will be another Czech Karolina Muchova, whom she beat in this season’s French Open final.
The result of their clash on Thursday was unavailable at press time.
In another match on Wednesday, Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova ended Caroline Wozniacki’s first tournament back after a more than three-year break from competitive tennis with a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
Following a relatively easy first set, it looked like the Czech would make quick work of Wozniacki in the second when she took a 3-0 lead, but back-to-back double faults presented the Dane with a break opportunity, which she converted for 3-1.
Wozniacki rode that momentum to win the next three games for a 4-3 advantage.
An increasingly frustrated Vondrousova stopped the bleeding when she levelled at 4-4. The ninth seed then sealed a love hold with an ace for 5-5, before a Wozniacki backhand error put her on the doorstep at 6-5.
Vondrousova claimed her ninth consecutive win with a pinpoint serve out wide on match point that Wozniacki could only flail at to set up a clash with American teenager Coco Gauff.
Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic hits a return against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark during the National Bank Open at Stade IGA on Aug 9.
PHOTO: AFP
Wozniacki, a former world No. 1 Grand Slam champion who retired in 2020 to start a family, was ultimately undone by 41 unforced errors under sunny skies in Montreal.
“All in all, I’m going to take a lot of positives with me from this week and build on that moving forward. I played today against someone who just won Wimbledon,” she said. REUTERS
