- Emma Raducanu crushed by the second seed
- Iga Swiatek won 6-1 and 6-0 in less than an hour
Emma Raducanu is out of the Australian Open, destroyed by Iga Swiatek's axe.
The British number 2 has had a couple of good wins here in Melbourne against good opponents, but this was a completely different level against one of the favorites for this title.
The 6-1, 6-0 result did full justice to the 23-year-old Swiatek's dominance and was the heaviest defeat of Raducanu's career since losing by reverse score to Elena Rybakina, 550 miles northeast of Sydney. .
These two players were born just 18 months apart and were briefly tied for one Grand Slam title each.
But Raducanu is still making his way in the game while Swiatek is making history, with five majors in the bank and many more, surely, to come. She has never won this title but, with Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff on the other side of the draw, she is a big favorite to at least reach the final.
The second seed wins so many sets 6-0 or 6-1 that 'the Swiatek bakery' has become a running joke on social media; Raducanu was the reluctant customer here, served with a breadstick and a bagel.
Emma Raducanu (pictured) is out of the Australian Open, brutally destroyed by Poland's Iga Swiatek
Raducanu, 22, had no answers, and the second seed cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory in the third round.
Raducanu, 22, has faced Swiatek four times and has yet to win a set. A couple of their other meetings were competitive, but this one was anything but.
The good news for Raducanu was that there were no signs of the back problems that plagued her against Amanda Anisimova in the second round. The bad news was that the problems with their service persist.
The rest of Raducanu's game covered some cracks in the first two rounds, but the truth is that his serve did not seem adequate at the Grand Slam level.
There were 15 double faults in the first game and five in the second. Against Swiatek she scored four doubles but also committed three fouls with her foot, a sign that she is not comfortable with her action, perhaps because she is throwing the ball too far forward and has to chase it down the court.
His grip, or at least the way he presents the racket at the start of the swing, has changed since the end of last season and it all feels like a work in progress.
A back spasm in December limited her preseason and interrupted the work she and Nick Cavaday were doing on the most important shot in tennis.
It is understood that wide serving from the advantage side was a focus and he has indeed achieved it well this week.
But the lack of a true second serve makes it too predictable and the best returners (Swiatek is certainly among that number) take ruthless advantage. Raducanu won only 23 percent of points on his second serve.
Iga Swiatek sent a message to her rivals in what was a brilliant performance on the pitch
The second seed has won five Grand Slam titles in her career; is on course to win a sixth in Melbourne.
Swiatek, always starting fast, won the first six points of the match and Raducanu had to bring out some of his best tennis of the week to make it 1-1.
A combination of volley and drop-shot was delicious. But that was just a brief interlude in the percussive stroke of Swiatek's backhand; the sizzle of his forehand.
From there, Raducanu lost the next 11 games in a row. She is not the first to suffer such an attack at the hands of Swiatek and she will not be the last.
Raducanu must lick his wounds and then return to the practice court to fix that serve of his.