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Tennis News: Iga Swiatek separated herself from other tennis players last season by winning six tournaments in a row and 37 wins in a row.

Slowly but surely, the world number 1 continues this trend in the new season.

The most recent example is when the two BNP Paribas Open champions battled for a place in the fourth round and the 2022 season champion managed to beat the 2019 season champion, Bianca Andreescu with 6-3, 7-6.

After playing well enough to tie the No. 1 seed, Canada’s Andreescu couldn’t find an answer against the Poland international in the second-set tiebreaker after dropping seven of their eight points.

“He changes the pace of his game quite well and with a court like this it’s quite difficult,” Swiatek said. “But I’m quite happy that I was solid for most of the game. And that I can calm down in the tie-break, because I really know that I can focus again.”

The 2022 US Open champion is the only tennis player who hasn’t played in three sets this season. Additionally, since the start of the 2022 season, she has won the most matches in straight sets (25), eight more than Jessica Pegula.

The difference, as usual, is seen in the acquisition of breakpoint opportunities. The two tennis players managed to create eight break point chances. The world number 1 tennis player converted five chances, while 2019 US Open champion, Andreescu converted four chances. Now the Polish national leads 2-0 head to head and she is still on course to become the first woman to defend her BNP Paribas Open title since Martina Navratilova in 1991.

“It was a really tough game and I’m really happy that I had such a tough game because now I see how I can handle situations like this after a few one-sided games.”

“I think we both played well. I’m happy that in the crucial moments I became a more solid player.

After securing a spot in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open, for the 13th time, tennis’ top seeds have advanced to the round of 16 of a WTA 1000-level tournament. 2009, only three tennis players were able to do so before turning 22, namely Caroline Wozniacki (23), Victoria Azarenka (15) and Agnieszka Radwanska (14).

For a spot in the quarterfinals, Swiatek will face 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu. The Polish nationals won their only previous encounter in Stuttgart last season.

Keywords: Tennis, BNP Paribas Open, Iga Swiatek, Bianca Andreescu, Emma Raducanu