Iga Swiatek produced her best performance of the year to comfortably defeat Jessie Pegula at the Italian Open on Wednesday afternoon.
Swiatek proved much too strong for her American opponent in the Foro Italico, securing a 6-1, 6-2 victory in a little over one hour.
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What a performance!
Swiatek’s victory has broken a stalemate between the Polish star and Pegula: Swiatek has now won six of their 11 meetings on the WTA Tour.
The six-time major champion has also joined an elite conversation alongside the likes of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
Iga Swiatek has won 43 WTA 1000 clay-court matches
Iga Swiatek’s match against Jessica Pegula was her 50th clay-court match at the WTA 1000 level.
Of those 50 matches, Swiatek has won an astonishing 43.
As per statisticians OptaAce, since the WTA 1000 format’s introduction in 2009, only Serena Williams had more wins after her first 50 matches on the surface in such events.
Williams, a 23-time major champion, won 44 of her first 50 WTA 1000 matches on clay courts.
While Swiatek may have been unable to emulate Serena’s efforts, she has outshone Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova, a five-time major champion, won 42 of her first 50 WTA 1000 matches on clay courts.
Swiatek will look to make it 44 wins in 51 matches when she plays her Italian Open semi-final match on Thursday.
The Pole, who is seeking to win her fourth title in Rome, will play Elena Rybakina or Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals.
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Iga Swiatek discusses her form ahead of Roland Garros
Iga Świątek will be aiming to win her fifth Roland Garros title next month.
And it seems the Polish star is coming into form at exactly the right time, giving her the best possible opportunity of triumphing in Paris once again.
During her post-match press conference, Swiatek was asked: “How do you feel after a strong performance like this, like today? How much it’s important for your confidence for the rest of the season on clay? I’m thinking about Roland Garros, of course.”
Swiatek replied: “Well, the goal was to play as many matches as possible.
“I’m really happy that I just have opportunity to do that because I felt like I didn’t play a lot at all, comparing to last season.
“I’m happy that, yeah, I can spend some time on the court and play really solid matches against the best girls.
“For sure it’s giving me confidence because you can practice as much as possible, but if you don’t test it out on the court, play matches and face pressure or something, you’re going to still feel the little bit rusty when it comes.
“Now I’m happy I played couple matches. I’ll play hopefully two more here.”
