Swiatek Plays First Match Since Australian Open Shock And Thrashes Her Opponent

| by Zachary Wimer

Defending champion Iga Swiatek started off her 2024 Qatar Open campaign with a bang, outplaying Sorana Cirstea in two sets.

Cirstea is a very interesting player who is capable of playing some amazing tennis on hard courts. She hadn't had the best year so far but found something last week in Abu Dhabi, but it was still not enough to beat or even challenge the Pole.

The Polish player had a tremendous run in Doha last year, easily beating everybody and winning the trophy. While she dismissed expectations ahead of the event once more, she grew them again in the opening match.

There is just something that works really well for her in Doha, and it's likely the way the courts play. It favors hitters quite a bit, especially precise and consistent players like Swiatek.

The Romanian can hit the ball really well, too, but she's not as consistent with it as Swiatek, and that was a major problem in this one. The first set finished 6-1 in favor of Swiatek, who cruised on her serve, losing only four points in total.

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On Cirstea's serve, Swiatek mostly relied on doing damage on the second serve, which she saw plenty of times. The second set was a bit better for Cirstea as she served a bit better, which made her more competitive in rallies.

The problem was largely the same: She couldn't outhit Swiatek in most rallies and was again easily beaten. Swiatek lost only 4 points on her serve again and did most of her damage on Cirstea's second serve to win the second set 6-1.

It was just a tremendous performance from the Polish superstar, who hasn't played since the Australian Open. We'll see whether she can show up with the same level in the next round against either Erika Andreeva or Ekaterina Alexandrova.

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