Iga Swiatek returned to tennis after a slight layoff and looked like her world no.1 self in dismantling Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the Italian Open.
The Pole took a while to find her groove dropping her serve twice in the opening set but breaking Ruse seven times in return cruising to a 6-3, 6-0 win in just 68 minutes.
This was her 24th win in a row.
Seeking her fifth consecutive title of 2022 this week including Miami and Indian Wells, Iga Swiatek is also bidding to win Rome in back-to-back years.
Standing between her and another quarterfinal berth is former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka.
Azarenka, the No.16 seed, eased to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Colombia’s Camila Osorio earlier in the day.
Swiatek and Azarenka have split two previous meetings on hard courts, with Swiatek winning their quarterfinal match in Adelaide in January in three sets.
Jabeur will meet Yulia Putintseva in the Round of 16 who claimed a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 comeback upset of No.8 seed Garbiñe Muguruza.
Leylah Fernandez’s campaign came to an end at the hands of Daria Kasatkina in a marathon 2 hour, 45-minute.
Coming from a set down Kasatkina won 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) and to seal a spot opposite No.2 seed Paula Badosa.
Badosa took 1 hour and 17 minutes to ease past World No.50 Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-1.
No.7 seed Danielle Collins of the United States ended former World No.1 Simona Halep’s run at the tournament with a 7-6(1), 6-3 win.
2022 Australian Open finalist Collins improved to 2-1 lifetime against former Rome champion Halep after just over two hours of play.
This marks Collins’s first trip to the Rome Round of 16 after two previous second-round losses.
Amanda Anisimova broke her second-round duck at the Italian Open with a hard-fought 7-6(4), 6-1 upset of No.12 seed Belinda Bencic in 1 hour and 46 minutes.
The American had lost in the second round in each of her previous three appearances in Rome but kept her cool to defeat Bencic for the second time this year.
