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Having dominated the season in extraordinary fashion, Iga Swiatek is still hungry for more success. After receiving a bye in the first round of the San Diego Open, the World No. 1 beat China's Qinwen Zheng 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in two hours and 18 minutes.
The Pole improved her head-to-head record against the 28th-ranked player to 2-0. Also, Swiatek has now won 61 out of the 69 matches that she has played this year. The three-time Grand Slam winner lost only her second WTA final a few days ago in Ostrava when Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic rallied from a set down to defeat her 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3.
Although Zheng hit nine aces to Swiatek's two, she finished with eight double faults, compared to just two from the Pole, who broke her opponent four times to advance to the third round.
The only complaint that the otherwise happy fans seemed to have on Twitter was why Swiatek would let the match go to the third set when she could finish it in two.
"Tough, tougher, Iga Swiatek. Iga wins in the second round of San Diego, despite jet lag, ongoing colds, bad weather (the players interrupted the warm-up several times because it was raining), and finally the aggressive game of Zheng, who again was not easy for Iga, like in Paris," a fan tweeted.
"I feel had she not slipped in the beginning of that second set, I think she would have taken it in straights. Either way, a win's a win, and happy that the bakery is back in business," a user posted.
"Iga Swiatek defeated Qinwen Zheng in a 3 sets, the first two sets were so tight. But the 3rd set, Iga breadsticked Zheng. Gosh Iga! You're actually capable winning the match in straight sets. Why you make it complicated, huh," another tweet read.
Here are a few more reactions:
Iga Swiatek to face Coco Gauff in San Diego Open QF
Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff will meet each other on the tour for the fourth time in the San Diego Open quarterfinals. While the World No. 1 downed Qinwen Zheng in her second-round match to reach the last eight, Gauff defeated qualifier Robin Montgomery and Canada's Bianca Andreescu for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Gauff beat Andreescu 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 30 minutes.
In the on-court interview after her match against Zheng, Swiatek stated that she expected to reach her peak around the age of 24-25.
"It's pretty amazing. I wasn't expecting to have this kind of season this year," Swiatek said. "I thought maybe I'm gonna be at my peak when I'm 24 or 25, and have that experience, results like that are gonna come. But I'm pretty happy that I'm able to give my all right now and to play well and to be in that space."
