Iga Swiatek demolishes Karolina to capture Rome Open title

ROME: World No.15 from Iga Swiatek of Poland was in ruthless form as she routed No. 9 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-0 in just 46 minutes to clinch the Italian Open title here on Sunday. Iga, 19, dropped just 13 points in all — four in the first set and nine in the second — and faced only four game points against her.

This was the Polish player's third career title following the French Open last year and the Adelaide title in February.

Iga raced out of the blocks and never let up, striking 17 winners to only five unforced errors in the match. By contrast, a slow-starting Karolina served two double faults in each of her first two service games, and did not find a winner until she was set point down after 19 minutes.

Iga's combination of heavy spin and pace allowed her to exploit Karolina's movement throughout the match, and she sealed victory as the Czech sent a forehand wide.

The result on Sunday ensured that Iga would break into the top-10 for the first time when the WTA rankings are released on Monday.

It was the first-ever double bagel to decide the Rome title, and the most one-sided Italian Open final since 1983, when Hungarian Andrea Temesvari defeated American Bonnie Gadusek 6-1, 6-0.

The last double bagel in a WTA final was Romanian Simona Halep's victory over Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova at Bucharest 2016.

Iga had never before scored a double bagel win at the pro level, though she had notably defeated Karolina's twin sister Kristyna 6-0, 6-1 to reach her first WTA final in Lugano 2019.

For Karolina, it is just the second time in her career that she has failed to win a game in a completed match, following her 0-6, 0-6 loss as a 17-year-old to Poland's Anna Korzeniak in the 2009 Latina-Nascosa ITF $10K quarter-finals. IANS

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