Seventh-seeded Iga Swiatek needed just more than an hour Thursday to reach the fourth round of the National Bank Open in Toronto.
The Polish star defeated Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-1 in a match that lasted 66 minutes.
“For sure it was a good day, and I’m really happy with the way I played,” said Swiatek, 25. “Even though the first game wasn’t super smooth, I knew I can start from the beginning, and then it went my way and I could find my rhythm.”
Golubic is the only player to beat Swiatek in the first round of a major — at Wimbledon in 2019, when the six-time Grand Slam winner was just 18. But Swiatek has won the last three matches and has dropped just five games to Golubic during the last two.
During their latest encounter, Swiatek won 22 of her 28 first-service points (78.6%) and buried a pair of aces.
“I think I played back her slice pretty well, so the change of rhythm didn’t bother me that much,” Swiatek said. “I tried to pick the right balls to attack because I was controlling the pace, it was just about the decision-making.”
Swiatek will play either 10th-seeded Marta Kostyuk or 19th-seeded Madison Keys for a berth in the quarterfinals. Kostyuk and Keys were facing one another on Thursday.
No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula persevered through a rain delay to record her 40th victory of the season — 6-4, 6-0 over Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan. Pegula converted all six break-point opportunities.
Pegula next faces No. 15 Diana Shnaider, who posted a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 17 Anna Kalinskaya in an all-Russian affair.
Another Russian, No. 16 Ekaterina Alexandrova, rallied for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Australia’s Talia Gibson.
Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus is slated to play China’s Shuai Zhang later Thursday night.
–Field Level Media
