Iga Swiatek moved into the semi-finals of the Rome Open on Friday after a 7-6(2), 6-0 win over Bianca Andreescu in the quarters. As a result, the Pole also extended her victory run to 26 matches.
The opening set was closely fought between the two opponents, who were clashing against each other for the first time. However, when it came to the business end of the set, Swiatek wasted no time and built up momentum for herself, clinching the tie-break, 7-2. The second set was one-sided in her favour and she broke Andreescu thrice to rout her opponent. Swiatek had 27 winners more than twice as many as Andreescu’s 12 and had 14 unforced errors as compared to the Canadian’s 12.
Rome Open: Ons Jabeur stuns Maria Sakkari
Looking to make it to the finals, the defending champion will play third seed Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka came from a set down to beat Amanda Anisimova, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 51 minutes. Sabalenka won 61% of her first-serve points to Anisimova’s 55% and 42% of her second-serve points to the American’s 33%. Sabalenka failed to save all five break points she faced but made good of seven break point opportunities on Anisimova’s serve.
This was Sabalenka’s first win over Anisimova in the five matches they’ve played so far.
In the top half of the draw, Ons Jabeur reached the semi-finals with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 comeback win over Maria Sakkari. The fourth-seeded Sakkari led Jabeur 6-1, 5-2 with two breaks of serve in the second set before the Tunisian scripted a comeback to eventually win her 10th match on the trot, going back to her Mutua Madrid Open winning run.
Jabeur will play Daria Kasatkina for a spot in the Rome Open final. Kasatkina led Jil Teichmann 6-4, 3-2 in their quarter-final encounter before the latter decided to retire in the match on account of injury.
Photo Credit: WTA Twitter