Adelaide International- Iga Swiatek beats Leylah Fernandez – Former French Open champion Iga Swiatek was too good for US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in the Australian Open 2022 warmup event on Wednesday. The Polish, Swiatek, made light work of Leylah and defeated her 6-1, 6-2 as she gears up for her first Australian Open title. The development comes as a setback for the teen sensation as she eyes her maiden Grand Slam title later this month. Follow Aus Open 2022 updates on InsideSport.IN
“Iga Swiatek is now 14-0 in sets won at #AdelaideTennis. The defending champion defeats Leylah Fernandez 61 62 to return to the quarterfinals. Struck 8 UFE in the match,” WTA Insider wrote on Twitter.
Australian Open 2022: Iga Swiatek too good for US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez at Adelaide International, beats Canadian in straight sets
That was some performance 😲
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 6, 2022
🇵🇱 @iga_swiatek makes a statement in Adelaide.#AdelaideTennis 🔜 #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/Ik1dv3vGEl
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Leylah Fernandez vs Swiatek LIVE: Last year’s US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez is hoping to go even higher in 2022. Fernandez is now targetting entry into top 10 rankings and is currently preparing for Australian Open 2022: Follow AUS2022 LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN after commencing her season strongly at the Adelaide International.
“The first one, which will always be the most important one, is to finish the season healthy, physically, mentally and emotionally,” she said.
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“Then my second goal would be to finish top 10, and then play the WTA Finals at the end of the season.”
Leylah Fernandez vs Swiatek LIVE – Curtain Raiser Before Australian Open 2022: The 20-year-old Canadian beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 6-4 on Monday evening to set up a second-round blockbuster with world No.9 Iga Swiatek, who got her Adelaide title defence off to the perfect start on Tuesday with a straight-sets win over Daria Saville.
Australian Open 2022: Leylah Fernandez ready for clash with Iga Swiatek at Melbourne Summer Set, says ‘targetting top 10 rank’: Follow live updates
Adelaide International LIVE: Fernandez enters that contest brimming with confidence having won 11 of her past 14 matches dating back to August 2021.
She enjoyed a late-season surge that peaked with her run to the final in New York, during which she beat four WTA superstars in succession – Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka – to arrive in her first major final while still a teenager.
Although she ultimately lost the final to Emma Raducanu, Fernandez thrilled fans at Flushing Meadows and continued wowing crowds in the United States when she headed west to Indian Wells and stunned ninth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova en route to the last 16.
Leylah Fernandez vs Swiatek LIVE: Despite having built impressive momentum, Fernandez felt the off-season came at the perfect time for her after finishing the year at a career-high ranking of No.24.
“Before the US Open we’d talked as a team and we all decided that it would be best to end the season at Indian Wells. And we stuck to it because we knew it was a long season, the body needed the rest. The mind and the emotions, too, needed some time off from tennis,” Fernandez told ausopen.com.
“So I was able to take a few weeks of vacation, I was also able to go to my older sister’s wedding, which was a big plus for me. She kept pushing it back, not only because of the pandemic, but because I was travelling too much for tennis and she wanted me to be there!”
Adelaide International LIVE: Leylah Fernandez Targeting the top 10
Time to refresh has been crucial for Fernandez, who, given her status a Grand Slam finalist on the cusp of the world’s top 20, is now aiming for loftier milestones that will require a lot more competing and winning to achieve.
She revealed she always set goals to achieve by season’s end, and that 2022 was no different.
Adelaide International LIVE – Leylah Fernandez vs Swiatek LIVE:Fernandez admits the explosion in her profile since the US Open has at times surprised her and required time to adjust.
But ultimately, it is something she has always wanted.
“It was a fun moment for me to realise, wow, my tennis has made it around the world.”
Australian Open 2022: Iga Swiatek too good for US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez at Adelaide International, beats Canadian in straight sets
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