Swiatek strolls into quarter-finals after punishing Potapova
The Guardian|June 03, 2024
After an opening week defined by Iga Swiatek's grit, as she saved match point and recovered from the brink of defeat against a resurgent Naomi Osaka in her second-round match, the Pole's bakery reopened with ruthless efficiency yesterday as the best player in the world demolished Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0 to return to the French Open quarter-finals.
Tumaini Carayol
Swiatek strolls into quarter-finals after punishing Potapova

Even in matches with such emphatic scorelines, the final result is not always reflective of how competitive some can be. Sometimes the games are tight but the superior player wins the points that matter.

This was not one of those matches.

Across only 40 minutes, Swiatek destroyed the 41st-best female tennis player in the world. It was the shortest completed match of Swiatek's career and Potapova won only 10 points. The Russian did not contest a deuce game and the closest she came to winning a game was at 30-30 in the second game. It was about as dominant a win as can be seen at grand-slam level.

"Comfortable," Swiatek said, describing what it feels like to be in the zone. "You just go with it because there's no point of changing anything. You just continue what you've been doing and what has been working. But I was always focusing on the next point. I didn't really look at what happened before. So that was probably also why I could be efficient."

This story is from the June 03, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the June 03, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE GUARDIANView All
Historic Hamilton thrills on way to ninth home victory
The Guardian

Historic Hamilton thrills on way to ninth home victory

Mercedes driver shows mastery in wet conditions to end 945-day winless run

time-read
4 mins  |
July 08, 2024
'I'm so proud he's a Lancastrian' - diehard fans pay their tributes to legend Anderson
The Guardian

'I'm so proud he's a Lancastrian' - diehard fans pay their tributes to legend Anderson

Supporters see their favourite son show he has lost none of the old magic despite his Test career coming to an end

time-read
3 mins  |
July 08, 2024
Kick or twist Smith's costly misses should force rethink for England in game of shrinking margins
The Guardian

Kick or twist Smith's costly misses should force rethink for England in game of shrinking margins

Anyone who has ever played sport knows that desperate sinking feeling. One minute the world is a wonderful place and you are doing what you love most.

time-read
4 mins  |
July 08, 2024
Royal Mail to go ahead with freight flight cuts in spite of takeover
The Guardian

Royal Mail to go ahead with freight flight cuts in spite of takeover

The boss of Royal Mail's parent company has said the business will push on with a \"transformation\" of the group despite its £3.57bn takeover, as it prepares this month to cut more daily freight flights.

time-read
2 mins  |
July 08, 2024
All eyes on Biden at Nato summit as leaders brace for Trump presidency
The Guardian

All eyes on Biden at Nato summit as leaders brace for Trump presidency

As European leaders and top defense officials from 31 Nato countries descend on Washington tomorrow, all eyes will be focused firmly on Joe Biden, whose faltering performance at last month's debate has added to concerns about the country that some Europeans already described as their \"unpredictable ally\".

time-read
4 mins  |
July 08, 2024
Rob Burrow Celebratory farewell for rugby league inspiration
The Guardian

Rob Burrow Celebratory farewell for rugby league inspiration

Children in full rugby kits play cheerfully in front of the Featherstone Lions rugby club in Pontefract as adults sporting bright jerseys drink, eat and chat joyfully.

time-read
1 min  |
July 08, 2024
Another new dawn? What Starmer's team can learn from 1997's New Labour
The Guardian

Another new dawn? What Starmer's team can learn from 1997's New Labour

Veterans of Labour's 1997 victory party at the Royal Festival Hall by the end the dancefloor looked like a war zone strewn with dozing bodies - will remember the sense of disbelief and excitement as the scale of the landslide started to materialise.

time-read
4 mins  |
July 08, 2024
Baverman is losing support as potential party leader, say Tories
The Guardian

Baverman is losing support as potential party leader, say Tories

Conservatives have suggested that the former home secretary Suella Braverman is losing support as a potential future party leader, as Tory MPs who lost votes across southern England privately urged colleagues to resist a lurch to the right.

time-read
4 mins  |
July 08, 2024
Flying start Lightning trip begins reset of relationship with Europe
The Guardian

Flying start Lightning trip begins reset of relationship with Europe

It felt like a deeply symbolic, even cathartic, moment on Saturday lunchtime as, on take off from Stansted, the pilot carrying the new foreign secretary, David Lammy, banked the government plane with the Union Jack livery sharply leftwards across the sodden and half occluded fields of Essex and towards Europe.

time-read
3 mins  |
July 08, 2024
Lammy seeks EU security pact on defence, energy and climate crisis
The Guardian

Lammy seeks EU security pact on defence, energy and climate crisis

Labour is seeking a sweeping joint declaration with the EU to usher in a wide-ranging security pact covering defence, energy, the climate crisis, pandemics and even illegal migration, the foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said.

time-read
3 mins  |
July 08, 2024