(Madrid) The Polish Iga Swiatek and the Italian Jannik Sinner, respectively ranked first in the WTA and second in the ATP, easily continued their journey at the Madrid Tennis Open on Saturday.
Swiatek defeated the Romanian Sorana Cirstea (30e) 6-1 and 6-1 to reach the round of 16, while Sinner defeated his compatriot Lorenzo Sonego (52e) 6-0 and 6-3 in the second round.
Swiatek, who lost in last year’s final to second-place finisher Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, improved her record to 26-4 this season.
She will face the Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo (55e), Monday, for a place in the quarter-finals. Sorribes Tormo defeated Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (26e) 7-6 (0) and 6-3.
Swiatek will try to win a third consecutive French Open title next month. She has triumphed three times at the Roland-Garros tournament.
The Madrid Open is the only European tournament played on clay at level 500 or higher that is missing from the Polish player’s record.
Among the men, Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro (118e) surprised the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (seventh) 6-4 and 6-4 in the second round. Tsitsipas had a 10-1 record on clay this season so far.
PHOTO MANU FERNANDEZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Stefanos Tsitsipas
“I had a very good opponent on the other side of the net,” said Tsitsipas. He made excellent shots and punished me every time I made shots that were too short. »