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.
