Iga Świątek marked her return to the WTA tour with a straight-sets win over Sara Bejlek, her first match since losing in the third round of Wimbledon.
The Polish player had been defending her Wimbledon title from a year earlier but fell to Alexandra Eala in the third round in London, a defeat that also dropped her to eighth place in the WTA rankings.
Against Bejlek, Świątek delivered a dominant opening set, winning it 6-0 in just 28 minutes. It was the 40th "bagel" set of her career.
She continued to press in the second set, winning the first three games comfortably before Bejlek clawed back some ground. Game six of that set became a marathon, running more than 22 minutes and producing 32 points between the two players.
Świątek held her nerve and closed out the match with a break in the ninth game, taking the second set 6-3 to advance to the next round.
Reaction on social media
The match, Świątek's first since the Wimbledon exit, drew wide comment on X. Sport.pl journalist Łukasz Jachimiak pointed to her unforced errors, writing that from a lead of 6-0, 3-0 Świątek was again struggling against herself, and that the number of unforced errors in the first set compared with the second spoke for itself.
Agnieszka Niedziałek made a similar point, noting that the sixth game of the second set lasted more than 20 minutes largely because of a high number of unforced errors, and that it was a relief for the Pole to have that game behind her.
The tennis account "Z kortu - informacje tenisowe" wrote that Świątek had won the first set comfortably while playing very solid tennis, but that far more unforced errors crept into her game in the second set as Bejlek raised her level and the match became even. It added that Świątek survived the crucial sixth game and went on to take the win.
Lukas Weese of The Athletic summed up the performance as a dominant first set and an uncertain sixth game in the second, but otherwise solid tennis from Świątek.
The Tennis Channel highlighted the fast pace of the first set and the fight in the second.
Świątek needed the win
The account "The Tennis Letter" wrote that when Świątek performs well, she still does it better than anyone else.
