World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland kicked off her 2024 Internazionali BNL d'Italia campaign with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over American qualifier Bernarda Pera in Thursday's second round.
Swiatek, a two-time Rome champion in 2021 and 2022, needed 1 hour and 17 minutes to fend off 77th-ranked Pera and clinch a Rome third-round spot for the fourth consecutive year. Swiatek's only opening-round loss in Rome came in her 2020 tournament debut, where she fell to Arantxa Rus.
"At the end, I felt like [Pera was] playing like she has nothing to lose," Swiatek said afterward. "I wanted to still to do my job and stick to my tactics. At the end I did that. Overall I'm happy with the match."
Here are more facts and figures surrounding the world's top-ranked player's latest win:
7: With her second-round victory (after a first-round bye), Swiatek has now won seven straight matches on tour. Swiatek is coming off her first Mutua Madrid Open title, which she won on Saturday in a matchup against World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka, saving three championship points.
31: Swiatek now edges ahead of Elena Rybakina as this year's match-win leader, with 31 victories in 2024. Rybakina will aim to tie that number when she kicks off her Rome title defense on Friday.
15: Swiatek is now 15-2 at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia throughout her career. In the Open Era, only Chris Evert and Gabriela Sabatini have done better in their first 17 Internazionali BNL d'Italia matches (16-1 each).
8: After the routine opening set, Swiatek became embroiled in a more difficult second set. Swiatek eventually cracked the set open with a break for 3-1, but she needed eight break points in that protracted game before earning the advantage.
72.7: Pera fought to the end, erasing two match points at 5-1 and slamming a forehand winner to break Swiatek for the first time all day. In the next game, though, Swiatek converted her third match point to seal victory. Overall, Swiatek won 72.7 percent of points returning the Pera second serve (16 of 22).
0-3: Former Top 30 player Pera falls to 0-3 against reigning World No.1 players, having also suffered losses to Ashleigh Barty at 2021 Roland Garros and Swiatek at 2023 Madrid. Pera's career-best win by ranking is a victory over then-No.2 Anett Kontaveit on the way to her title at 2022 Hamburg.
3-0: In the third round, Swiatek will take on resurgent Yulia Putintseva, who continued her strong spring by ousting Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion and No.31 seed, 6-3, 6-2.
Swiatek is 3-0 against Putintseva, including a win at Indian Wells this year. Still, Putintseva has been incredible at the last three WTA 1000 events: Indian Wells Round of 16, Miami quarterfinals, and Madrid quarterfinals. Putintseva has nearly halved her ranking from No.80 to No.41 over the past two months.
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