Iga Swiatek dismissed Elisabetta Cocciaretto in just 52 minutes as she opened her account at the Italian Open.  World number two Swiatek came to Italy on the back of a demoralising straight-sets defeat to Coco Gauff in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open. But the 23-year-old Pole dropped just a single game in winning 6-1, 6-0 against Italian Cocciaretto to move onto a third-round meeting with Danielle Collins as the American defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania 6-3, 6-3. 

“I felt like the ball was kind of listening to me today and I had full control over the match, so it’s always pretty comfortable to play a match like that,” Swiatek said. “You just need to continue the work you’ve been doing and not expect that it’s going to happen more often.” Swiatek is a three-time winner of the Italian Open and is using the claycourt tournament as a key step towards her defence of her French Open title, but she is yet to win a tournament this season. 

In another second-round match, former world number one Naomi Osaka came from behind to overcome lucky loser Viktorija Golubic 2-6, 7-5, 6-1. Sixth seed Jasmine Paolini, cheered on by her home crowd, was a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 winner against Lulu Sun of New Zealand and will face Ons Jabeur in round three after the Tunisian benefited from a walkover against Petra Kvitova. Kvitova — who secured her first victory since returning from maternity leave by defeating Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round — was forced to withdraw due to a leg problem. 

Spanish ninth seed Paula Badosa also withdrew from the tournament earlier. Badosa’s injury cast more doubts over her fitness ahead of the French Open as the Spanish former world number two pulled out of another tournament due to a recurring back injury. Third seed Jessica Pegula increased her perfect record against her fellow American Ashlyn Krueger with a 6-4, 6-2 second-round victory. Pegula and her 37th-ranked compatriot Krueger have met five times, all in the last two years, and Pegula has prevailed on each occasion without the loss of a set. 

Meanwhile, men’s world number one Jannik Sinner will make his return to competition after a three-month doping ban by facing Mariano Navone on Saturday after the Argentinian beat Federico Cina 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday. Alexander Bublik advanced into the next round after beating Roman Safiullin 6-3, 7-6(4). Bublik will next face Norwegian sixth seed Casper Ruud in the second round. Fabian Marozsan fended off a mid-match fight back from Joao Fonseca as he earned an impressive 6-3, 7-6(4) first-round victory against the Brazilian star.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)