MELBOURNE – Women’s world No. 1 Iga Swiatek is getting more and more confident, and that does not bode well for her Australian Open rivals.
A year after losing to Danielle Collins in the semi-finals, the Pole fired a warning that she is ready to go all the way this time with a crushing 6-0, 6-1 third-round win over Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa on Friday.
The reigning French and US Open champion will now face a showdown with Wimbledon title holder Elena Rybakina for a place in the quarter-finals.
Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula were also big winners, ensuring that normal order was resumed on day five at Melbourne Park following the shocks of a day earlier, when world No. 2 Ons Jabeur was the biggest casualty in the women’s draw.
Swiatek raced to victory in 55 minutes and only missed out on a “double bagel” when Bucsa, ranked 100th, finally held her serve at 5-0 in the second set.
The title favourite from Poland had said after a tough first-round examination by German Jule Niemeier that she needed to find some extra “intensity”.
She has certainly done it, cruising into the last 16 with the loss of only six games in her second- and third-round matches.
The 21-year-old is on course to win the Australian Open for the first time and with it the thrid leg of a career Grand Slam of all four majors.
“I knew she can be solid so I didn’t really want to let her come back,” said Swiatek, who made her Australian Open debut in 2019.
“I’m glad that I was really disciplined and just focusing on my tactics. And yeah, I felt like I’m moving into flow. So that was nice.
“I feel I’m more and more confident since day one here. I’m not even talking about matches, but also practices. I feel like I’ve done so much work to feel more confident, more relaxed on court.”
The three-time Grand Slam winner – she also triumphed at Roland Garros in 2020 – will meet Moscow-born Kazakh Rybakina after she beat 2022 runner-up Collins 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
“We played recently in Dubai,” said Swiatek of Rybakina, the 22nd seed. “It wasn’t a tournament, it was an exhibition. So we know each other pretty well.
“We also played in juniors, but you know, we both made such a progress that it doesn’t really matter what happened a couple of years ago.”
Rybakina said Swiatek, who seems to be getting better as the tournament progresses, would be a very difficult prospect.
“For sure she’s very strong physically and mentally,” the Kazakh told reporters after spending 2hr 5min on court before knocking out the American 13th seed.
“I think that if I’m going to play my game, aggressive, I’m going to have to be solid from the beginning till the end.
“I will have to take all my chances. I think Iga is a great player.”
The 18-year-old Gauff stepped up her bid for a maiden major title with a similarly emphatic 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow American Bernarda Pera.
The talented teenager faces the 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the last 16.
Third seed Pegula, who is also chasing a first Grand Slam crown, similarly made light work of Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk with a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
The 28-year-old next faces what should be a sterner test in Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, the 20th seed and 2021 French Open champion. AFP
