ROME: Iga Swiatek started her bid to win her third straight Italian Open title in perfect fashion on Friday, not dropping a game in her straight-sets thrashing of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
World number one Swiatek looked in exceptional form as she demolished Pavlyuchenkova 6-0, 6-0 in just over an hour to ease her way into the third round in Rome.
Losing finalist in Madrid last weekend, Swiatek looked in great form in the tournament she won last year before going on to blitz the French Open.
Earlier, Jannick Sinner cruised into the men’s last 32 with a straight-sets win over Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-1, 6-4.
World number eight Sinner took one hour, 18 minutes to deal with Australian qualifier Kokkinakis, and will play against Alexander Shevchenko who beat Sebastian Baez 6-3, 6-4.
Grigor Dimitrov beat Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-6 to reach the third round. Moreover, Marton Fucsovics beat 17th seed Alexde Minaur 6-3, 6-4, 13th seed Cameron Norrie beat Alexandre Müller 6-2, 6-3, Alexei Popyrin beat 10th seed Felix Auger Aliassime 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, Francisco Cerundolo beat Wu Yibing 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, Roman Safiullin beat Sebastian Korda 6-2, 7-6, Fabio Fognini beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 7-6, Grégoire Barrère beat 11th seed Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, Matteo Arnaldi beat Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the next round.
In women’s section, 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko beat Sorana Cîrstea 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, Anna Kalinskaya beat Elise Mertens 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, Paula Badosa stunned 4th seed Ons Jabeur 6-1, 6-4, Marta Kostyuk beat Claire Liu 6-0, 6-4, 9th seed Maria Sakkari beat Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-3, Julia Grabher beat Jil Teichmann 7-6, 5-7, 6-3, Liudmila Samsonova beat Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-3, Karolína Muchová beat Martina Trevisan 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, Donna Vekic beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the third round. Agencies
Also Watch: