Cincinnati Masters Tennis LIVE: World No.1 Iga Swiatek kicked off her Western & Southern Open campaign with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Sloane Stephens to advance to the Round of 16. The victory is Swiatek’s tour-leading 50th win of the season, including her two wins at the Billie Jean Cup. Swiatek will face either Madison Keys or Jelena Ostapenko next. Follow Western & Southern Open LIVE on InsideSport.IN
Cincinnati Masters Tennis LIVE: Iga Swiatek defeats Sloane Stephens in straight sets in second round of Cincinnati Masters
Iga’s 50th win of the season 💥
World No.1 🇵🇱 @iga_swiatek moves past Stephens, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the Round of 16 in Cincinnati! 🙌#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/3aZkFLU4gQ
— wta (@WTA) August 17, 2022
In the first meeting between the two Slam champions, Swiatek broke Stephens six times over the course of the match. While the performance was not as clean as Swiatek would have preferred – she hit 17 winners to 25 unforced errors – Swiatek was able to keep Stephens at bay. She held the American to just nine winners in the match.
Swiatek started the first set well by breaking Stephens for the first time in the fourth game of the set to take 3-1 lead. She quickly took the lead 4 -1 and was cruising in the set, but the American later managed to break Iga and levelled the contest 4-4. In the end, the first set was won by the Polish woman who made three unforced mistakes anyway.
In the second set, the American tried to take a dominant hand and challenged Iga by making her un around the court, but Iga withstood the pressure and despite trailing the set 1-2, she managed to make a comeback by winning four games in a row and led 5-2. However, Stephens came to the fore again, who worked effectively in the forehand to level 5-5. But Swiatek kept her composure and managed to win the next two games to win the match in straight sets.
Cincinnati Masters Tennis LIVE: Iga Swiatek defeats Sloane Stephens in straight sets in second round of Cincinnati Masters
