Tennis: Tennis-Swiatek solves Pliskova test to reach third round in Montreal

(Reuters) – World number one Iga Swiatek overcame an early test before running away with a 7-6(6) 6-2 victory over Czech Karolina Pliskova in Montreal on Wednesday to reach the third round of the Canadian Open.

Swiatek was locked in a battle early against former world number one Pliskova but managed to stay in the match by winning most of the long rallies while displaying both a lethal forehand and solid court coverage.

“This first match was a challenge, it’s always a challenge especially against a player like that,” Swiatek said during her on-court interview.

“She for sure used her experience in the first set but I am happy that I could close it in a tiebreak, and in the second set I was more solid because I really wanted to reset, think about what I could do better and I am pretty glad that I did that.”

Swiatek faced plenty of resistance from Pliskova in the hour-long first set but managed to come back from 5-4 down to force a tiebreaker where she again had to come from behind before sealing it when the Czech sent a forehand wide.

In the second set, Swiatek found a new gear and followed an early break with a hold to love to grab control and never looked back as her mix of power and control proved to much for Pliskova to overcome.

While serving for the match, Swiatek handed a break to Pliskova with her first double fault of the set but the Pole immediately broke back in the next game to seal the win.

Up next for four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who will launch the defense of her U.S. Open title later this month, will be either Karolina Muchova, who she beat in this year’s French Open final, or Sorana Cirstea.

Among other seeded players in early action, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Liudmila Samsonova enjoyed straight-set victories to reach the third round while Belinda Bencic advanced with a 6-3 5-7 6-4 win over Alycia Parks.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)