Swiatek cruises past Fernandez

ADELAIDE, Jan 6: Defending champion Iga Swiatek made short work of US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez in a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win at the Adelaide International on Thursday to set up a quarter-final against two-times Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka.

Swiatek, the 2020 Roland Garros winner, took control of the match from 1-1 in the first set and capitalised on Fernandez's misfiring serve to wrap up the victory in 75 minutes at the Australian Open warm-up event.

The Pole, ranked fifth at this year's tournament, hit 17 winners against her 19-year-old opponent and did not face a break point as she extended her winning streak in Adelaide to seven matches.

"I was playing against a younger girl, which is pretty new for me," Swiatek, 20, said. "She's pretty talented and she's a Grand Slam finalist, so I knew it was going to be tricky.

"I felt really confident and I'm pretty happy that I could finish it really quickly and I didn't let go of focus."

Former world number one Victoria Azarenka scored a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Australian wildcard Priscilla Hon at Memorial Drive.

Hon had stunned Petra Kvitova in the first round on Monday and threatened a tiebreak in the second set against Azarenka but the Belarusian wrapped up the win in just under 90 minutes.

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