Iga Swiatek wins Adelaide International, captures second career title
What's the story
Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek clinched the second title of her career after winning the Adelaide International on Saturday. The 19-year-old romped past second seed Belinda Bencic 6-2 6-2 in a 62-minute final to script history. Swiatek shot to fame last year when she became the youngest woman to win the Roland Garros title since Monica Seles in 1992. Here is more.
Match
Swiatek maintained her dominance throughout the match
Swiatek was dominant right from the start, and went ahead 3-2 in the opening set. She broke Bencic's serve when the Swiss double-faulted three times, to gain the early advantage in the contest. The former then surged ahead 3-1 in the second set before winning the match comfortably. Notably, Swiatek struck 22 winners and committed mere six unforced errors, three in each set.
Set
Swiatek did not drop a single set in the tournament
It is interesting to note that Swiatek did not drop a set en route to the Adelaide International title. She won her first WTA title without losing a set since her own run at the Roland Garros last year. The 19-year-old lost only 22 games this time. Now, Swiatek will rise to a new career high of world number 15 on Monday.
Trophy
Her first trophy since Grand Slam crown
Swiatek collected her first trophy in a space of three tournaments following her maiden Grand Slam crown. Only seven active first-time major champions have taken fewer, while only four of those did it at 500/Premier/Tier II level or higher. The 19-year-old now owns a 9-1 record in professional finals. Her sole loss came to Polona Hercog at Lugano 2019.
Twitter Post
The winning moment!
Simply stunning ✨
— wta (@WTA) February 27, 2021
A second career title for @iga_swiatek as she defeats Bencic 6-2, 6-2 to secure the @AdelaideTennis women's singles title! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/wtiso8yrYr
Doubles
Alexa Guarachi and Desirae Krawczyk secure the doubles title
In the doubles event, number three seeds Alexa Guarachi and Desirae Krawczyk won the title by defeating the unseeded Hayley Carter and Luisa Stefani 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-3. The Chilean-American duo, who was runners-up at Roland Garros last year, picked up their third WTA trophy together. This was also their first trophy at 500 level following Gstaad 2018 and Istanbul 2020.