The match was one to watch but it ultimately ended up being much shorter than people would have anticipated. Iga Swiatek came out firing on all cylinders and the Polish player was able to defeat Fernandez quite easily. Playing in Adelaide is somewhat of a comfort zone for the Polish player who won the event last year and is defending the title.
Speaking on the match after it concluded, she said:
“I felt really confident, for sure, and I’m pretty happy that I could finish it really quickly and I didn’t let go of focus. So that was great."
Despite that she also admitted to feeling a bit stressed about the fact that she was playing a younger player which usually has not been the case in her career:
“I was pretty stressed because that was like the first match where I thought I’m playing against a younger girl, which is pretty new for me (laughter). Because I was always the younger one. She’s pretty talented, and of course, she is a Grand Slam finalist, so I knew it’s gonna be tricky.”
It ended up being quicker than she believe it possible with a 6-1 6-2 win in about 73 minutes of play. She moves on to the next round.