Swiatek strolls into Cincinnati quarter-finals
Iga Swiatek continued her preparations for the US Open in style as she cruised to a straight-sets victory over Marta Kostyuk at the Cincinnati Open.
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The Pole needed just 69 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition, earning a 6-2 6-2 victory after rain delayed the start of play in Ohio.
Swiatek started the encounter as it meant to go on, earning a break point in the third game which proved decisive as she made her mark on proceedings in the opening exchanges.
Despite the best efforts of the Ukrainian, the world No.1 strolled to within a set of victory after winning 73 per cent of her first-serve points.
Kostyuk simply had no reply to her Polish opponent's dominant service game, finding herself 3-0 down in double quick time in the second.
Swiatek would drop just six points in the final three games, concluding the encounter with a love game to set up a tie against the winner of Mirra Andreeva and Jasmine Paolini.
Since Swiatek’s debut on Tour in 2019, only two players have won 14 or more consecutive WTA 1000 main draw matches, those being the Pole herself in 2022 (23, Doha to Toronto) and again this year (14, current streak).
Only Agnieszka Radwanska (14, between 2012 and 2013) has made more WTA 1000 quarter-finals in consecutive seasons than Swiatek in 2023-2024 (13) since the format’s introduction in 2009.