Women’s world no1 Iga Swiatek eased into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-0,6-1 win over Spain’s Cristina Bucșa joining the likes of Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejčíková.
The top seed has continued to improve with each passing match and her third-round meeting with Bucșa at Margaret Court Arena was another example.
Swiatek was dominant from the start winning 85% of first-serve points and putting away 5 of the 10 break-point opportunities.
Bucșa had to wait until the sixth game of the second set to register her first hold as Swiatek finished off the cakewalk win in 55-minutes to set a blockbuster showdown with Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the 4th round of the Australian Open.
Rybakina overcame American Danielle Collins 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in her match to seal her progress.
The upcoming showdown will be the first meeting between reigning Grand Slam champions since Ashleigh Barty defeated Barbora Krejcikova in the 2021 Cincinnati quarterfinals.
Jessica Pegula also continued to make her case for being a strong favourite to win the whole thing after the No3 seed beat Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-0, 6-2 in Friday’s third round to book a spot in the tournament’s second week for the third straight year.
In three matches so far, the Pegula has lost just 11 games in six sets.
Coco Gauff also matched her best-ever result in Australia as the No7 seed downed Bernarda Pera in an all-American third round 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last 16 for the second time in her career.
Maria Sakkari, Viktoria Azarenka and Madison Keys will take the court later today.
