The last time Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek locked horns on a tennis court the competion was fierce, the margins thin and the intensity five-alarm-fire high. Swiatek saved a match point in that encounter, coming through an epic 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5 first-round victory on Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris and eventually winning her third consecutive Roland-Garros title in 2024.
This time around, Iga Swiatek stepped off the tightrope and took the express route to victory.
The six-time major champion was in control of most of the exchanges, playing some of her most confident tennis of the season as she dispatched the four-time major champion 6-2, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals in Rome.
Afterwards Swiatek expressed pleasure in her performance and said she looks forward to finishing the week strong in Rome.
“From the beginning till the end I knew what to do, and I did that great. I was pretty confident with my game,” Swiatek said. “For sure the amount of matches really helps because I wasn’t able to play many matches before. So yeah, the goal is to play as many as possible here.”
Swiatek ripped 23 winners to just nine for Osaka, and converted six of 13 break points to win for the third time in four meetings with the four-time major champion. Osaka hit nine winners and 24 unforced errors, and broke once – in the fourth game of the opening set.
The first set was closer than the scoreline might suggest. The second, not so much, as Swiatek won 29 of 43 points in the set.
Swiatek won 10 of the final 11 games, overall.
“I think honestly I felt like she played really well. Maybe this clay was suited a little bit more for her,” Osaka said after the loss. “But I also feel like, I don’t know, there’s something I could have done more, but I’m not really sure what.”
The three-time Rome champion, who entered Rome with a 2-2 record on clay this season, will bid to reach a WTA semifinal for the first time since last September when she meets fifth-seeded Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals. Swiatek has won six of the pair’s 11 previous meetings, and captured their only meeting on clay in the 2022 quarterfinals at Roland-Garros (6-2, 6-3).
Swiatek is looking to recapture her domination on clay as she plays her third event with Francisco Roig as her coach. The pair linked up ahead of the clay season and spent a week at Rafael Nadal’s Academy getting on the same page.
Swiatek improves to 24-3 lifetime in Rome in her seven career appearances – she won the title in 2021, 2022 and 2024.