World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland kicked off her 2024 Internazionali BNL d’Italia campaign with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over American qualifier Bernarda Pera in Thursday’s second round.
Swiatek, a two-time Rome champion in 2021 and 2022, needed 1 hour and 17 minutes to fend off 77th-ranked Pera and clinch a Rome third-round spot for the fourth consecutive year. Swiatek’s only opening-round loss in Rome came in her 2020 tournament debut, where she fell to Arantxa Rus.
Here are more facts and figures surrounding the world’s top-ranked player’s latest win:
7: With her second-round victory (after a first-round bye), Swiatek has now won seven straight matches on tour. Swiatek is coming off her first Mutua Madrid Open title, which she won on Saturday in a classic clash against World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka, saving three championship points.
31: Swiatek now edges ahead of Elena Rybakina as this year’s match-win leader, with 31 victories in 2024. Rybakina will aim to tie that number when she kicks off her Rome title defense on Friday.
0-3: Former Top 30 player Pera falls to 0-3 against reigning World No.1 players, having also suffered losses to Ashleigh Barty at 2021 Roland Garros and Swiatek at 2023 Madrid. Pera’s career-best win by ranking is a victory over then-No.2 Anett Kontaveit on the way to her title at 2022 Hamburg.
3-0: In the third round, Swiatek will take on resurgent Yulia Putintseva, who continued her strong spring by ousting Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion and No.31 seed, 6-3, 6-2. Swiatek is 3-0 against Putintseva, including a win at Indian Wells this year.
Still, Putintseva has been incredible at the last three WTA 1000 events: Indian Wells Round of 16, Miami quarterfinals, and Madrid quarterfinals. Putintseva has nearly halved her ranking from No.80 to No.41 over the past two months.
More to come…