Swiatek Routes Raducanu to Reach Australian Open Fourth Round

Melbourne: 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 on Saturday.

Polish number one Swiatek targeted Raducanu’s backhand and feasted on the Briton’s 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 practised 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 Eva Lys.

Elena Rybakina needed seven match points to close out her win over Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska, who reached the semi-finals as a qualifier last year.

Sixth seed Rybakina was clearly hampered by injury for much of the contest on John Cain Arena.

American Alex Michelsen was also an early winner on day seven of the championships, racing past 2023 semi-finalist Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-2 on John Cain Arena.

Emma Navarro joined the American charge with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Tunisian Ons Jabeur in a topsy-turvy match on Margaret Court Arena.

Next up for Navarro is Russian Kasatkina, who downed Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 7-5, 6-1 on Kia Arena to reach the second week for the first time on her 10th trip to Melbourne Park.

German Eva Lys became the first lucky loser to reach the women’s fourth round since 1988 when she beat Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, her reward a date with Swiatek.

Moreover, Elina Svitolina stunned 4th seed Jasmine Paolini 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 while Madison Keys shocked 10th seed Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-4 to reach the fourth round. Agencies

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