Seventh seed Iga Swiatek trounced Romania’s
Sorana Cirstea 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in a gruelling contest at Rod Laver Arena on
Monday to confirm her place in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

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The 2020 French Open champion, Swiatek lost
the first set in her first meeting against the 38th-ranked Cirstea. This was
the first time the 20-year-old lost a set in the ongoing Australian Open. In
her last three matches last week she has not conceded a single set at Melbourne
Park.

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Cirstea, 31, put Swiatek under pressure
for the first time in the tournament with some heavy-hitting from the back of
the court and Swiatek had to dig deep to find her way back into the contest and
reach her first Australian Open quarter-final.

Swiatek sealed the contest on the first
match point with her 29th winner and will meet Belarusian second seed Aryna
Sabalenka or Kaia Kanepi of Estonia for a place in the last four.

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Meanwhile, the Pole became the only player
last season to make the fourth round or better at all four Grand Slam events.
Despite being pushed hard by Cirstea, Swiatek now has a 29-2 win-loss record
against opponents ranked outside the Top 30 in her Grand Slam history.

Cirstea was a set away from reaching her
second Grand Slam quarterfinal, and her first in 13 years, since she reached
that stage at 2009 Roland Garros. However, the former World No.21 was unable to
hold on and collect the 16th Top 10 win of her career.

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Nevertheless, this week’s result continues
a strong resurgence for 31-year-old Cirstea, who ended a 13-year-drought
between WTA singles titles last year in Istanbul. Cirstea has improved her
ranking by nearly 50 spots over the last 12 months.

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Throughout the match, both the players
played their best games during their first meeting. Swiatek’s 29 winners were
nearly matched by the 27 from the Romanian’s racquet, and the Pole had only
three more unforced errors than Cirstea.