World number one Iga Swiatek claimed she had endured a “tricky” afternoon despite easing to a straight-sets win over American left-hander Bernarda Pera to reach the Madrid Open last 16 yesterday.
Swiatek, warming up for the defence of her French Open title, claimed a 6-3, 6-2 win over 29th seed Pera for a sixth consecutive victory on clay this season.
“I wouldn’t say it was easy. Every match is tricky here,” Swiatek said after her 75-minute outing.
“I’m happy that I’m getting my rhythm. Playing against a lefty is never easy ... but I’m pretty happy that I was disciplined and focused.”
Swiatek next faces either Chinese 22nd seed Zheng Qinwen, who was the only player to take a set off her at Roland Garros last year, or 16th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Also progressing to the fourth round yesterday was world number three Jessica Pegula who clinched a gruelling 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) victory over Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic.
Pegula, 29, made the final in Madrid in 2022 where she lost to Ons Jabeur. She will now tackle Italy’s Martina Trevisan on Monday for a quarter-final spot.
Two-time champion Alexander Zverev of Germany needed just 56 minutes to dispose of France’s Hugo Grenier 6-1, 6-0 on the back of six breaks of serve and 26 winners.
He will face either Carlos Alcaraz or Grigor Dimitrov for a quarter-final place.
“Both are great players,” said Zverev. “It’s going to be difficult no matter who it is against. Of course with Carlos that would be a matchup people would look forward to.
“We played in the final here last year, played a massive match at Roland Garros before I got injured.”
Zverev holds a 3-1 record against Alcaraz with their last meeting coming in that quarter-final clash at the 2022 French Open.
Meanwhile, world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas landed 39 straight first serves en route to claiming a 3-6 6-1 7-6(5) comeback win over Dominic Thiem at the Madrid Open, with the Greek crediting his focus and relaxation for his near-perfect serving performance.
Tsitsipas looked in danger of falling in his first match of the tournament on Saturday, but he found a way back into it by dominating the second set and then clinching the tie-break in the decider.
The 24-year-old ended with a first serve percentage of 79%, significantly higher than the 57% he managed in his straight sets defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in last week’s Barcelona Open final.
“That’s fantastic, 39 is a lot,” Tsitsipas said of his streak. “That’s a positive mark for me. I think I just owe it all to fluidity and just being relaxed on my serve... I think it’s just pure relaxation and focus.”
Tsitsipas also praised former US Open champion Thiem for turning the two-hour, 19-minute encounter into a physically demanding contest.
“I’m in a way happy that we were able to show that kind of tennis... Today sort of showed what kind of intensity two guys that play single-hand backhands can bring to tennis,” Tsitsipas said.
“I’m happy I got away with a win. Things weren’t easy at the very end but I just kept fighting... The third set it was just pure fight. He’s not someone that’s going to give up and he hates even giving the slightest to you in terms of free points.”
Tsitsipas will next meet Argentine Sebastian Baez, who beat American Marcos Giron 3-6 6-3 6-4.