Iga Swiatek breezes past lucky loser Julia Grabher in straight sets to reach third round of Madrid Open
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ByEurosport
Updated 28/04/2023 at 20:44 GMT
Iga Swiatek has never won the Madrid Open in her career, but she has got her 2023 campaign off to the perfect start after beating Julia Grabher in her first match at this year's WTA 1000 tournament. Swiatek is looking to win her third title this year after picking up wins at the Qatar Open in February and the Stuttgart Open earlier this month. Swiatek will play Tatjana Maria next.
Swiatek feels 'proud' after winning Stuttgart Open and remains optimistic about Grand Slams
Iga Swiatek is through to the third round of the Madrid Open after a 6-3 6-2 win over Julia Grabher.
Grabher lost in the final round of qualifying in Madrid, but entered the main draw as a lucky loser. She struggled to match Swiatek's intensity from the baseline in their first ever meeting on the tour as the Pole marched on to a straightforward win.
In just Swiatek's second main draw appearance in Madrid, the 21-year-old will play Bernarda Pera in the next round after the American beat Germany's Tatjana Maria 6-1 6-3.
Swiatek raced through the opening set after breaking the Grabher serve in the fourth game to move into a 3-1 lead.
Swiatek was returning Grabher's serve well and she finished off the 40-minute set with an unreturnable first serve of her own to take control of the match.
The second set was equally straightforward for Swiatek. The world No. 1 went a break up in the very first game after a double fault from Grabher.
The Polish star kept her momentum up and broke her opponent four times over the course of the match to win the second set 6-2 ahead of her third round fixture.
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