Iga Swiatek makes fast start at Italian Open
Poland’s Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning a match against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto during the WTA Rome Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, on May 8, 2025. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP)
Iga Swiatek dismissed Elisabetta Cocciaretto in just 52 minutes as she opened her account at the Italian Open on Thursday.
World number two Swiatek came to Italy on the back of a demoralizing straight-sets defeat to Coco Gauff in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.
READ: Iga Swiatek thrashed by Coco Gauff in Madrid Open semis
But the 23-year-old Pole dropped just a single game in winning 6-1, 6-0 against Italian Cocciaretto to move onto a third-round meeting with either American Danielle Collins or Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania.
Swiatek is a three-time winner of the Italian Open and is using the claycourt tournament as a key step towards her defence of her French Open title, but she is yet to win a tournament this season.
In another second-round match, former world number one Naomi Osaka beat Swiss player Viktorija Golubic 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
World number one Jannik Sinner will make his return to competition after a three-month doping ban by facing Mariano Navone on Saturday after the Argentinian beat Federico Cina 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday.
