Swiatek Humbles Raducanu To Reach Fourth Round Of Australian Open

Second seed Iga Swiatek charged into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-1 6-0 humbling of Emma Raducanu in a meeting of former US Open champions at a sunny Melbourne Park today. Polish number one Swiatek targeted Raducanus backhand and feasted on the Britons second serve to win the last 11 games of the contest and reach the last 16 in Melbourne for the fifth time in just 70 minutes on Rod Laver Arena. I just enjoyed playing, I played a few shots where I thought yeah, this is what I practiced for, the 23-year-old said after improving her career record against Raducanu to 4-0. I felt really confident so at the end I could push more and converting all those break points was really important for me. Swiatek converted five of the 12 break points she earned but faced none on her own serve from the hapless Raducanu, who has endured a string of injuries since capturing her only major at Flushing Meadows in 2021. The world number 61 managed to hold serve at the first attempt but Swiatek was soon scurrying around the court finding the lines with her winners and showcasing her incredible consistency. The five-times Grand Slam champion, whose best performance in Melbourne was a run to the semi-finals in 2022, has yet to drop a set this year on her way to the fourth round, where she will play lucky loser Eva Lys or Jaqueline Cristian. After a few days of cooler weather, temperatures started to rise today with projected highs of around 31 degrees Celsius 88F over the weekend. For sure it helps, said Swiatek. But on the other hand, you also have to keep the control, so its a mix. In tennis, the most important thing is adjusting I felt like it was going to be a challenge to adjust but obviously from the beginning I felt like Im playing well, my hand is fast.