Iga Swiatek was away from the action on the WTA Tour for some time but she's back to playing and winning at the 2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The world no. 1 was forced to withdraw from the Miami Open and she also couldn't help her country at the Billie Jean King Cup as her rival Elena Rybakina contributed to the win over Poland and took Kazakhstan to the Finals. But ahead of the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart, Swiatek declared that she's fit again and it was apparent from her second-round performance.
As the top seed, the Pole had a bye in the first round and already in the second round, she faced a difficult opponent in Qinwen Zheng from China. The Chinese player is a rising star of her country and she showed it against Swiatek in the past, taking her into three sets in both of their previous two meetings.
But this time, Swiatek made sure not to allow any drama against Zheng. She flew into the match, winning the first three games and building a sufficient lead to take the first set. But perfectionist as she is, the world no. 1 kept the bar high and added one more break, winning the first set 6-1 in just 33 minutes.
However, Zheng showed why it was so difficult for the Pole to play against her in the past. Despite a bad start into the second set, the Chinese player broke back and levelled the score at four games each.
But in the longest game of the match, Swiatek broke again and made sure to serve out the match this time, winning it 6-1, 6-4 and booking her quarterfinal spot at the 2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Her title defence will continue against the former world no. 1, Karolina Pliskova, who defeated the eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari, and Donna Vekic in the previous rounds.
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