Iga Swiatek overwhelmed Spain’s Cristina Bucsa with the loss of just one game, taking just 55 minutes to power into the Australian Open fourth round.
The top-seeded world No. 1 from Poland was untested as she mowed down the 100th-ranked challenger with ease on a sunny day at Melbourne Park.
Swiatek comfortably lived up to historic expectations: the Open top seed has only failed to reach last 16 on one occasion in the Open Era
She now stands 11-2 in Grand Slam third-round matches and will next face reigning Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.
The Pole has been the picture of efficiency, spending a combined time of four and a half hours on court to win three matches – all in straight sets.
Bucsa was playing a Top 10 opponent for the first time in her career.
“I’m more and more confident since day one here,” Swiatek said. “I’m not just talking about matches, but also practices.
“I feel like I’ve done so much work to feel more confident, more relaxed on court. I’m pretty happy that I did it because it’s just a little bit easier.
“When you actually play those matches, you can feel the rhythm a little bit more. That’s what I am most pleased with.”
Third seed Jessica Pegula needed barely an hour to dispatch Marta Kostyuk, despite eight aces from the Ukrainian.
The winner kept her unforced error count to a sparse nine, while Kostyuk had a massive 39.
“The score obviously looked dominant, but there were a lot of really tough games in that match,” Pegula said.
“She can be really a dangerous player. I did a good job of playing every single point, every single game, really tough, not letting her kind of get
any free points or free games.
“I made her really have to earn it today and that paid off.”
Former Roland Garros winner Barbora Krejcikova out a second Ukrainian with her 6-2, 6-3 scoreline over Anhelina Kalinina.
Coco Gauff, the seventh seed, continued to progress smoothly, posting a 6-3, 6-2 win over American compatriot Bernarda Pera.
Unheralded 2022 Wimbledon winner Rybakina reached the second week of the major with a defeat of last year’s Melbourne finalist Danielle Collins 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, who was playing her third three-set match of the opening week.
The Kazakh had the misfortune to win the grass court major at the edition where no ranking points were awarded due to the club’s decision not to allow in Russian or Belarus players over the invasion of Ukraine.
But being relegated to outside courts at the US Open and remaining relatively anonymous does not bother Rybakina.
“I honestly don’t care because it wasn’t easy after Wimbledon with the scheduling, of course.
“In the end I’m here to play tennis. I’m feeling good. So I’m super happy to get through to another match.
“It doesn’t matter which court I’m going to play on.”
Rybakina knows she has a huge job ahead when she plays Swiatek in the next round.
“To be honest, it doesn’t matter which round I play. No matter what, the goal is to beat the top players.
“I think that it’s going to be a tough match. Hopefully it’s going to go my way.”
