World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was in real danger of going into a three-setter with Yulia Putintseva but ultimately managed to turn the things around and get the job done in two sets.
On Saturday afternoon, top-seeded Swiatek claimed a 6-3 6-4 win over world No. 41 Putintseva to progress into the Rome round-of-16.
In what was the fourth meeting between the two, Swiatek needed an hour and 46 minutes of play to get the job done and improve to 4-0 in her meetings versus the Kazakh.
Now, Swiatek could face a Grand Slam champion in her next match as she awaits the winner of the match between former world No. 1 Angelique and Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
How Swiatek defeated Putintseva?
Early in the first set, Swiatek missed out on two break points in the second game but managed to get the first break of the match four games later and open a 4-2 lead. In the eighth game, Swiatek didn’t realize her first set point on Putintseva’s serve but she converted her second set point on her serve in the following game.
Down by a set, Putintseva responded with an early second-set break and a 3-0 lead. Leading 4-1, Putintseva had four break points to go up by a double break and open a 5-1 lead but Swiatek managed to win that lengthy game and keep it a one-break distance.
Not going up by a double break proved costly for Putintseva as Swiatek got the break back in the seventh game and then also served out the following game to tie the second set to four games apiece. Then, Swiatek went 5-4 up after breaking Putintseva in the ninth game before routinely serving out for the match in the following game.
Had Putintseva broken Swiatek in the sixth game and went 5-1 up, the match could have easily gone three sets but the Pole managed to get through that service and ultimately finish the match on a five-game winning run.
