World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland had no trouble reaching the Australian Open Round of 16 for the fourth straight season Friday, dismissing Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa 6-0, 6-1.
Swiatek will now take on last season's Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the Round of 16. Rybakina held off last year’s runner-up Danielle Collins 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in their third-round meeting.
Their upcoming showdown will be the first meeting between reigning Grand Slam champions since Ashleigh Barty defeated Barbora Krejcikova in the 2021 Cincinnati quarterfinals.
Swiatek speaks: "I feel I'm more and more confident since Day 1 here," Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. "I'm not even talking about matches, but also practices. I feel like I've done so much work to feel more confident, more relaxed on court.
"I'm pretty happy that I did it because it's just a little bit easier. When you actually play those matches, you can feel the rhythm a little bit more. I think that's the thing that I am most pleased with."
Looking ahead to Rybakina, Swiatek added: "[Rybakina] really is a solid player. Since we played juniors, I knew that she's kind of going in the right direction. With her serve, she can do a lot."
Swiatek's confidence continues to grow: On Friday, Swiatek came as close as possible to notching the sixth double-bagel win of her professional career, but at 6-0, 5-0, Bucsa at last got on the scoreboard. Swiatek, though, did not stumble and served out the match in the following game. The top seed won 52 points to Bucsa's 19.
Bucsa, who saved a match point in her second-round win over 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, is enjoying her first week inside the Top 100 at a new career-high ranking of No.100.
In her first match against a Top 10 player, Bucsa was overwhelmed by the the No.1 seed. Swiatek needed only 55 minutes to oust the qualifier. Swiatek never faced a break point all day.
Next round is going to be the first real test of the tournament for Iga. Serve will definitely have to be on point as will the return, especially since Rybakina is equally adapt at it.
2022 Roland Garros and U.S. Open Champion vs Wimbledon Champion. I'm ready. Bring it!.
Jazda Iga!.
Also congrats on the first bagel of the season :).
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