Swiatek beats Inglis to end Australian hopes, reach quarter-finals

MELBOURNE: Iga Swiatek ruthlessly ended Australian hopes at Melbourne Park on Tuesday, dispatching qualifier Maddison Inglis 6-0 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals and continue her quest for a maiden Australian Open title to complete a career Grand Slam.

Inglis, 28, had reached the fourth round after her third-round opponent Naomi Osaka pulled out of the Grand Slam due to an abdominal injury.

The world number 168 was the final Australian in the women’s singles draw.

Swiatek, who needed three sets to beat Russian Anna Kalinskaya in the previous round, produced a strong performance to defeat Inglis, firing off 22 winners.

“I felt pretty confident from the beginning. It felt like the pace of the ball was lot different from my last round. So I needed to adjust with my legs and really be precise with the footwork,” the Polish world number two said.

Swiatek whitewashed Inglis in the opening set, with her powerful baseline returns and movement proving too much for the Australian to handle.

Inglis managed to break Swiatek’s serve in the opening game of the second set, raising her arms in celebration to raucous cheers from Australian spectators at Rod Laver Arena.

However, the joy was short-lived.

Swiatek ratcheted up the intensity and, though Inglis was able to hold serve twice to add respectability to the scoreline, the six-times Grand Slam champion wrapped up the win in an hour and 13 minutes to enter her third Australian Open quarter-final. She faces 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.