Iga Swiatek opened her 2024 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix with a win over Elise Mertens to stay undefeated at the WTA 500 event.
The Pole has been a tremendous performer at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in the past, going undefeated in her previous two attempts. She's a two-time champion with a pretty good shot of making it three in a row, at least if she keeps playing the way she played this match.
Mertens actually played a few good points to start the match with a couple of break points but she couldn't break. It would prove costly rather quickly as Swiatek jumped out to an early lead not long after that and doubled it for a 5-1 advantage in the opening set.
She would finish it off and win the set 6-3 after rushing a bit too much, but overall, it was still a pretty strong set of tennis. The hitting was the major problem for the Belgian as she couldn't outhit the world no. 1 for much of the match.
Occasionally, she'd string together a few good rallies, but she never found a way to do it consistently. Swiatek would jump out to an early lead in the second set as well, but this time around, Mertens was finally able to break and make it a bit interesting.
The match was always going to be somewhat shaky because it was Swiatek's first match back on clay, and she was playing against a solid player who has been having a solid year.
Even with all of that, Swiatek refocused and used her next chances to break and finish off the match. She was just too solid for Mertens, especially on a court that suits her so well.
The final score was 6-3, 6-4 for Swiatek, as she inches closer to winning this event thrice. Next up is either Emma Raducanu or Linda Noskova. She's had some problems with Noskova in the past, so that might be an interesting matchup.
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