World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was thrilled with the performance she delivered versus Aryna Sabalenka as she was glad that she didn’t give the slightest of chance to Sabalenka to come back.
Swiatek made a slow start to her last-16 and quarterfinal matches but on Saturday meant business right from the start as she destroyed Sabalenka 6-2 6-1 to reach the Rome final.
Swiatek broke Sabalenka in the opening game of the match but Sabalenka broke back in the following game to tie set to one game apiece.
Blowing an early break didn’t impact Swiatek, who broke Sabalenka again in the third and seventh game to routinely win the first set.
After winning the first set, Swiatek started the second set with back-to-back breaks and a 4-0 lead.
Swiatek missed out on a break point in the fifth game but broke Sabalenka for the sixth time in the match in the seventh game to complete a dominant victory.
“I’m pretty happy that I learned the lessons on previous matches,” Swiatek said, per the WTA Tour website. “On previous matches, I felt like I’m kind of letting my opponents come back to the match a little bit. This time I wanted to put pressure on my opponent from the beginning till the end. I think Aryna was under pressure, so it really helped me and that was my tactics.”
Swiatek has won her last 27 matches
Swiatek will be going for her fifth consecutive title when she meets either Ons Jabeur or Daria Kasatkina in the Rome final.
“At these tournaments where we play day after day, we don’t really get time to celebrate,” Swiatek said. “Right after we finish the previous match, we have to think about the next one. It’s pretty tough. But I know that after I’m going to be really proud of myself. For sure I’m going to have time to think about what I did.
“But, yeah, I mean, I’m just constantly surprising myself that I can do better and better. I feel like I actually can believe now that the sky’s the limit. That’s the fun part, for sure.”