Swiatek dumps Frech

WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — World No. 1 Iga Swiatek eased into the second round of the Poland Open on Wednesday with a straight-sets thrashing of fellow home player Magdalena Frech.

The French Open champion romped to a 6-1, 6-2 victory at the Warsaw clay-court event in her first match since suffering a shock third-round defeat by Alize Cornet in the Wimbledon third round.

“For sure playing in your hometown with all that crowd is pretty extraordinary,” Swiatek said.

“I didn’t get a chance to play many tournaments in Poland so for sure I needed extra focus and determination to come here and stay in the zone and not let my head think about other stuff.”

She added: “I’m happy that I was solid today because Magda is not an easy opponent. From the beginning I wanted to put pressure on her and I did that pretty well.”

Swiatek had been on a remarkable 37-match winning streak before her early exit at Wimbledon, taking six successive titles along the way.

The 21-year-old was back to her dominant best against Frech, not facing a single break point as she wrapped up the win in 73 minutes.

She will next face Romanian lucky loser and world No. 146 Gabriela Lee for a quarterfinal place.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of the singles draw at the ATP event in Atlanta due to a knee injury.

The Australian was scheduled to face German Peter Gojowczyk on Tuesday, but withdrew from the tournament following an earlier doubles win alongside compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis.

“I’m shattered that I’m not able to compete tonight,” Kyrgios told the crowd.

The hard-court event was due to be Kyrgios’ first tournament since his run to the Wimbledon final earlier this month, when he lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets.