WARSAW: World number one 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 number 146 Gabriela Lee for a quarter-final place. -- AFP
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