Iga Swiatek overcame Karolina Pliskova with a score of 7-6(6), 6-2, advancing to the third round of the National Bank Open Montreal.
After her exit from Wimbledon, Swiatek made a stop on the clay courts at the Varsovia Open two weeks ago, where she secured her fourth title of the year as the local and first seed with a convincing 6-0, 6-1 victory over Laura Siegemund in the final.
However, this marks her first match on hardcourt since the Indian Wells semifinal in mid-March, where she was defeated by Elena Rybakina.
Former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova was eliminated in the opening round of the DC Open last week by North American Hailey Baptiste, and on Monday, she secured a hard-fought victory against China's Zhu Lin, prevailing 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-2.
Pliskova has faced a challenging 2023 and in her last ten encounters leading up to Montreal, she holds a modest record of three wins and seven losses.
Swiatek and Pliskova had met twice before, both times with the 4-time Grand Slam champion emerging victorious. The first encounter was the memorable final of the 2021 Rome Open, where Swiatek seized the title with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory over the Czech player.
Their second meeting took place in the quarterfinals of Stuttgart earlier this year. Although Pliskova claimed the opening set, the Polish player turned the match around and secured a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 triumph.
A swift break from Swiatek at the beginning of the first set didn't rattle Pliskova, who promptly broke back to temporarily level the match. The same scenario unfolded when Swiatek once again obtained a break in the seventh game, which Pliskova promptly countered in the following game.
The set extended to a closely contested tie-break, where Swiatek secured the decisive mini-break at 6-6 to claim the set 7-6(6).
In the second set, Swiatek displayed her superiority over Pliskova, quickly establishing a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game. Even though Swiatek led 5-1 and had a chance to serve out the match, the 31-year-old Czech player remained in the battle, securing a break after a lengthy game.
The world No. 1 didn't falter and ultimately clinched the match with another break, sealing the victory with a score of 7-6(6), 6-2.
In the third round, she awaits the winner of the match between Sorana Cirstea and recent French Open finalist Karolina Muchova, which could potentially set the stage for a rematch of the latest Roland Garros final.
Swiatek d. Pliskova 7-6(6) 6-2 The fact Iga made it to the top of women’s tennis so quickly is 1 thing But the way she’s been able to write her own history & leave her mark at such a young age.. We’re witnessing something special. ✅Won 10 of last 11 hard court matches 🇵🇱❤️
