Tennis roundup: Iga Swiatek into Warsaw quarters; Daniel Altmaier stuns Andrey Rublev to reach Hamburg last-eight
World number one Iga Swiatek swept aside Claire Liu 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of her home WTA tournament.
Poland's Iga Swiatek retrurns the ball to Claire Liu from US during their round of sixteen match at the Poland Open tennis tournament. AP
Iga Swiatek eased into the quarter-finals of her home WTA tournament on Thursday while Daniel Altmaier stunned world number seven Andrey Rublev to reach the Hamburg ATP quarter-finals.
World number one Swiatek swept aside Claire Liu of the United States 6-2, 6-2.
It was Swiatek’s fourth win in four meetings against Liu, three of which have come this year.
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Second seed Karolina Muchova, ranked 18 in the world, was upset by Slovak qualifier Rebecca Sramkova 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 after failing to convert on a 5-1 lead and four match points in the third set.
Muchova has struggled since finishing runner-up to Swiatek at Roland Garros.
She was knocked out in the first round at Wimbledon to world number 103 Jule Niemeier of Germany.
Ruud secures another clay-court win
Altmaier defeated Rublev 6-2, 6-2 to reach the Hamburg ATP quarters on Thursday as top seed Casper Ruud racked up his 22nd clay-court win of the season.
Germany’s Altmaier, ranked at 61, ended Rublev’s five-match winning streak after 75 minutes and will face either Zhang Zhizhen or Yannick Hanfmann for a place in the semi-finals.
Rublev had arrived in Hamburg having captured the Bastad title at the weekend but had to save three match points to defeat Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles in his opening match on Wednesday.
Ruud made the lasty-eight by beating Cristian Garin of Chile 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.
“Cristian played much better than me at the beginning,” Ruud said.
“He broke me right away and was returning from all corners. I had no answers, but just tried to stay in there in the second set and told myself to keep going, maybe I will get a chance.”
Only Carlos Alcaraz, with 25 wins, has more tour-level victories on clay in 2023 than Ruud who next faces Arthur Fils for a semi-final spot.
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