By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, January 17, 2025
No. 2 Iga Swiatek rolled through 11 straight games destroying Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-0 racing into the AO fourth round for the fifth time.
Photo credit: ROLEX
Iga Swiatek’s squealing sneakers echoed in Emma Raducanu’s ears as she stood motionless at net.
Even during the pre-match coin toss, Swiatek's explosive footwork drills sent a clear message of imposing intensity
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A revved up Swiatek ran through 11 consecutive games razing Raducanu 6-1, 6-0 to charge into the Australian Open fourth round for the fifth game.
This was the lone AO third-round clash between Grand Slam champions and Swiatek turned it into a 70-minute statement of dominance.
“[I felt] really great. I just enjoyed playing,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview. “I played a few shots that I thought after them: This is what I practice for to play these kind of shots.
“I really enjoyed today’s match and felt pretty confident. Having converted all these break points as well was really important so I’m really happy with today’s performance.”
Hitting much heavier drives, Swiatek overwhelmed Raducanu from the start with an oppressive display of assertive baseline tennis. Swiatek smacked 24 winners to 9 for Raducanu; she beat the Briton to the ball and bruised her in rallies.
The 2022 US Open champion outclassed the 2021 US Open champion defeating Raducanu for the fourth time in as many meetings—and sounding more optimistic than ever about her AO title hopes.
“The world has brighter colors here everything is bright and more fun,” Swiatek said of her daily walks around Melbourne.
The slice serve wide in the deuce side is a foundation of Raducanu’s game, but she was missing that serve and Swiatek often annihilated her second serve. Swiatek won 17 of 22 points played on the Briton’s second serve and broke serve five times leaving Raducanu looking shell shocked. Raducanu was hit with a few foot faults as well and just couldn’t gain traction in longer rallies.
"I mean, today the scoreline was obviously quite harsh. I feel like I look back and know exactly what I need to do, and I take it as feedback," Raducanu said. "I'm very clear on kind of what happened out there. The scoreline reflects one thing. If I'm not necessarily able to hold my service games or kind of dictate, I feel like it seeps into the rest of my game.
"On my second serves, how the point is structured from then on, and also in the return games, you feel a lot more pressure."
About the only mis-step Swiatek made was a tardy entry onto Rod Laver Arena court, incurring a rare time violation warning before a ball was even struck.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek is driven to win her first Australian Open championship and regain the world No. 1 ranking.
So far, Swiatek has taken a ruthless route through the field dropping just 10 games total in tournament wins over Rebecca Sramkova, Katerina Siniakova and Raducanu.
The second-seeded Swiatek will step on court as a massive fourth-round favorite against Ukrainian-born German lucky loser Eva Lys.
World No. 128 Lys rallied past Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 4-6,6-3, 6-3 on Court 3 to make history as the first woman lucky loser to reach the AO fourth round since the tournament moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.
Chair umpire Marija Cicak let the world No. 2 know who was in charge hitting Swiatek with the rare time violation before the match began. That’s because when Cicak called time, Swiatek was still on her court-side seat “waiting for white towels.”
World No.61 Raducanu, hit with a couple of foot fault calls in her first two service games, saw Swiatek pound her second serve and hammer a two-hander down the line for triple break point.
The Briton didn’t drive a backhand swing volley deep enough and Swiatek spun a crosscourt backhand pass scoring first-break blood for 3-1.
Swiatek stamped her second love hold of the set stretching her lead to 4-1.
On one of the warmest days of the tournament, Swiatek’s twisting topspin forehand was bouncing high off the blue hardcourt. At times, Raducanu struggled to tame the backspin and found the net a few times, ceding another break and a 5-1 lead to the powerful Pole.
Swiatek swept an ace as she served out the 31-minute opening set at 15. Raducanu, who took treatment for an apparent back and hip issue in her second-round win over Amanda Anisimova, couldn't match Swiatek's pace.
Commanding the center of the court, Swiatek rolled through five consecutive games. Swiatek won 16 of 18 points played on her serve and overwhelmed Raducanu in a lopsided set.
Carrying a 1-7 record vs. Top 10 opponents when losing the opening set into this second set, Raducanu knew she needed a stand to start the second set.
The Briton saved two break points but Swiatek swept a forehand winner down the line for a third break point. Squeezing another forehand error from her opponent, Swiatek ended a near 10-minute game breaking for her sixth straight game.
Leveraging her leg strength, Swiatek was springing from a low crouch to crush shots into the corners. A crackling diagonal forehand winner left Raducanu looking stranded as Swiatek closed her seventh game in a row with a shout.
Winners were flowing like all the right answers on an exam. Striking each shot with a purpose, Swiatek was strong driving the ball down the line. Banging a backhand down the line, the Roland Garros champion extended to 6-1, 4-0.
You can argue Raducanu would have been wise to change up the pace, try to hit with more height and depth to push the Pole back and give herself a bit more time. The challenge was anytime the Briton left anything near mid-court, Swiatek swooped in to tomahawk winning drives.
Swiatek said she's driven by precision rather than ruthlessness.
"I wouldn't say I'm ruthless. I just try to have the same kind of attitude and same kind of focus no matter what the score is," Swiatek said. "But it's not like I want to, you know, show something. I'm just playing my game. If it's working, why stopping?
" I also seen many matches when someone was back being down like 2-5 or something. You always have to just keep going. It's not over till it's over."
The world No. 2 closed in 70 minutes and now continues her quest for a maiden AO championship with the most efficient first-week performance of any woman in the draw.