Iga Swiatek began her 2023 Canadian Open journey with a win over Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday. The world no. 1 needed an hour and 48 minutes to get past the past world no. 1, 7-6(6), 6-2 in their second-round match.It was a slow start for Swiatek who’s beginning her North American swing this week, after a triumphant performance at the Warsaw Open, a couple of weeks ago.
However, after the Pole captured the opening set in the tie-break, she raced through the blocks against the Czech in the second set. Of the two games Pliskova won in that set, one came courtesy of a service break on Swiatek’s serve.
The 22-year-old went on to convert three of four break points she had on Pliskova’s serve across the set.Swiatek won 73% of her first-serve points to Pliskova’s 53% for the match. She also won 54% of her second-serve points and converted 57% points on return on the latter’s second serve.
Canadian Open: Will Karolina Muchova thwart Iga Swiatek this time?
In the third round, the four-time Grand Slam champion will play another Czech, Karolina Muchova.
This also be the second time this year the two will have faced each other. Earlier, Swiatek and Muchova had contested the final at Roland Garros in which Swiatek had prevailed to defend her French Open title and win her fourth Grand Slam crown.In her second-round match, the 14th-seeded Muchova got past Sorana Cirstea, 7-5, 6-4 in an hour and 47 minutes.Another Czech player, 2023 Wimbledon winner, Marketa Vondrousova also advanced to the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament.
The 10th-ranked left-handed halted Caroline Wozniacki’s return with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over the 2018 Australian Open champion.Vondrousova will play Coco Gauff next for a chance to reach the quarter-finals. The sixth seed came through 6-2, 6-2 against Briton Katie Boulter in their round-of-32 meeting.Elena Rybakina, the third seed, had to fight past Gauff’s compatriot, Jennifer Brady in their second-round match.
Their match had been rescheduled for Wednesday with the American leading 4-2 in the first set tie-break on Tuesday. When play resumed, Brady rode her momentum long enough to win the opening set. She also saved a break point in the seventh game of the decider before securing a break of her own in the following game.
In the ninth game, the 24-year-old convincingly served out the match. The final score after almost two hours and 45 minutes of play read 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3 for the Kazakh.Lastly, world no. 2 Aryna Sabalenka also had a successful start at the Canadian Open.
