Tennis – WTA Tour Finals – Panamerican Tennis Center, Guadalajara, Mexico – November 15, 2021 Poland’s Iga Swiatek in action during her group game against Spaniard Paula Badosa REUTERS / Henry Romero

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ADELAIDE, Jan. 6 (Reuters) – Defending champion Iga Swiatek made short work of US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez on Thursday with a sovereign 6-16-2 at Adelaide International to play a quarter-finals against two grand -Slam winner Victoria Azarenka.

Swiatek, the 2020 Roland Garros winner, took control of the game 1-1 in the first set and used Fernandez’s misfire to end the win at the Australian Open warm-up event in 75 minutes.

The Pole, who finished fifth in this year’s tournament, scored 17 winners against her 19-year-old opponent and faced no breakpoint as she expanded her winning streak to seven games in Adelaide.

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“I played against a younger girl which is pretty new to me,” said 20-year-old Swiatek. “She’s pretty talented and a Grand Slam finalist so I knew it was going to be difficult.

“I felt very confident and I’m pretty happy that I was able to finish it really quickly and not let go of focus.”

Swiatek, who beat Belinda Bencic to win last year’s title, will face Azarenka in the next round after the former world number one scored a 6-3 7-5 win over Australian wildcard Priscilla Hon on Memorial Drive.

Hon had stunned Petra Kvitova in the first round on Monday and threatened a tiebreaker against Azarenka in the second set, but the Belarusian finished the win in just under 90 minutes.

Swiatek said she was looking forward to her match against Azarenka, who won her two Grand Slam titles at Melbourne Park.

“I love to play such an experienced player because it’s always a challenge,” said Swiatek of the 32-year-old.

“I have a different mindset when I play against players like that because I saw them when I was young. It shows me my progress, but I also have a lot of respect for them.”

Sixth seed Sofia Kenin will face local hero Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round later on Thursday, while Japanese Misaki Doi will face Russian Anastasia Gasanova.

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Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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