Iga Swiatek begins bid for third straight Italian Open title with double-bagel win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Iga Swiatek’s bid for a third consecutive Italian Open crown got off to the perfect start as the top seed earned a crushing double-bagel victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Swiatek was in an uncompromising mood under the Roman sunshine as she stormed to a 6-0 6-0 win in 67 minutes to set up a clash with Lesia Tsurenko or 28th seed Bernarda Pera. Ad The world No.

1 headed to the Eternal City on the back of a disappointing Madrid Open final defeat to Aryna Sabalenka and is still on the hunt for her first WTA 1000 title of the season. WTA RomeKenin produces major upset in Rome as 'exhausted' Sabalenka eliminated17 HOURS AGO She clinched victories at the Doha and Stuttgart WTA 500 events and is now looking to defend her Rome crown ahead of the French Open later in May. The 21-year-old is guaranteed to avoid Sabalenka this time in her bid for glory in Italy after the second seed suffered a shock exit against 134th-ranked Sofia Kenin on Thursday, declaring herself “exhausted” afterwards.

But if Swiatek was also feeling any tiredness after her efforts in Spain, it didn’t show. Norrie and Sinner cruise into Rome Masters last 16 with confident wins Kenin produces major upset in Rome as 'exhausted' Sabalenka eliminated Exclusive: Becker ‘worried’ about Nadal’s Roland-Garros chances The Pole raced out of the blocks, grabbing the match by the throat by breaking Pavlyuchenkova twice in a row to quickly establish a 5-0 lead. The Russian then faced a desperate bid to avoid a bagel on serve, but couldn’t hold off the world No.