Iga Swiatek warms up for defence of her French Open title later this month with a sensational 6-0 6-0 display to crush Czech ninth-seed Karolina Pliskova at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome; Poland's Swiatek will crack the top 10 for the first time on Monday
Sunday 16 May 2021 20:49, UK
Iga Swiatek produced a spellbinding display of tennis to double bagel Karolina Pliskova 6-0 6-0 in just 46 minutes to win the Rome WTA 1000 title on Sunday.
Swiatek dropped just 13 points in total - four in the first set and nine in the second - and faced only four game points against her as she claimed the most one-sided victory in the event, the previous record was set in 1983 when Hungary's Andrea Temesvari defeated American Bonnie Gadusek 6-1 6-0.
Teenager Swiatek, who staved off two match points against Barbora Krejcikova in the third round, will climb five spots to No 10 in the rankings on Monday after sealing her third WTA title following triumphs at Roland Garros and Adelaide.
"I am very happy, kind of overwhelmed. Obviously, Karolina had a great run here and in previous years. So congrats," said Swiatek, who also thanked her cat.
"It's been a tough week but I'm really happy that I got through everything. I was super focused today so I'm really proud of myself. Now I've finally earned some tiramisu."
Blasting winners at will with both her forehand and backhand, Swiatek won 51 of the 64 points.
She led 17-5 in winners and committed only five unforced errors to Pliskova's 23.
It is only the fourth time since 2000 that a WTA final has ended in a double bagel and is the shortest completed WTA final since Istanbul in 2009 when Vera Dushevina defeated Lucie Hradecka 6-0 6-1 in 41 minutes.
Pliskova, who was playing in her third consecutive final at the Foro Italico, having won the title in 2019, failed to win a game in a completed match for just the second time in her career.
"I think you have days like this in tennis when things are not going your way. I think that was the day today," she said.
"I tried here and there to make some points, but it was not really working for me. I will to quickly forget about today."
The French Open begins on May 30 with Swiatek defending the title she won against Sofia Kenin in October.
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