Two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek needed just 61 minutes to open her latest campaign at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open with a victory, as the World No.1 defeated Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-1 in Monday's second round.
Swiatek is one of five women who've won the singles title in Doha twice, and is seeking to becoming the first to win three titles at the event, which dates back to 2001. The Pole is trying to become the first player to win at any Hologic WTA Tour event for a third consecutive year since Serena Williams won in Miami from 2013-15.
She got off to the races quickly towards that overall goal. Against Cirstea, she won five straight games in the first set, and six in a row to take the second to advance to a third-round meeting with either Erika Andreeva or No.14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Read on for more facts and stats from Swiatek's opening triumph.
9: Swiatek has won her last nine matches in Doha, which includes a streak of 15 straight sets. In the first match of her 2022 victory, she defeated Viktorija Golubic in three sets, and hasn't lost a set in Qatar since then.
3: Swiatek is now 3-0 in her career against Cirstea, and all three wins have come on hard courts. Previously, she was a 6-2, 6-3 winner in Indian Wells last spring, and won in three sets at the 2022 Australian Open.
0: Swiatek did not face a break point in the match, and broke Cirstea six times overall. Swiatek only lost eight points in seven service games.
"I'm happy with my performance, and I feel like it was a really solid match," the top seed said afterwards. "I kind of felt like I was able to keep my focus from the beginning 'til the end.
"After every game I was more confident and I could even relax a little bit more at the end. So I'm happy that I just played solid."
4: Though she boasts 21 career wins against Top 10 players, Cirstea is now 0-4 in her career against reigning World No.1s.
68: The win is Swiatek's 68th at a WTA 1000 event. Only Caroline Wozniacki (89) and Victoria Azarenka (79) recorded more victories at the tournament level before turning 23.
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