This content was published 2 years ago. It may refer to a past edition of the Internazionali d’Italia.

World number one Iga Swiatek showed her best tennis of the week to get past Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 6-1. With only 17 games dropped en route to her second consecutive final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the Pole confirmed -if needed- her terrific form, which is resulting in a 27-match winning streak.

On the contrary, Sabalenka, who had looked as good as never in this 2022 here in Rome, seemed unable to find a key to pose a concrete threat to her rival. The frustration and the inability to open a gap in the game of Swiatek led to an increasing number of unforced errors. The third seed asked for a medical time out to treat her back later in the second set too, showing that sadly something was not as smooth as in the past days.

“Today I felt little bit differently because I think my level of focus was on a constant level throughout the whole match,” explained Swiatek after the match: “I wanted to put pressure on my opponent from the beginning till the end. I think Aryna was under pressure, so it really helped me and that was my tactics. I’m happy that I fully made it”.

Despite the powerful game of the Minsk-born, the first seed did not ever look troubled by the weight of her opponent’s shots: “I’m tactically really well-prepared. And also I’m practicing usually with the guys, so it doesn’t bother me if someone plays really fast. It’s just I feel like I can adjust properly to these kind of game style as to any other. Actually last year I was kind of learning how to play against heavy hitters on fast surfaces. But here on clay, I don’t think it really matters”.

With more and more record being equalled with each win she is seizing, Swiatek does not want to ignore them, being naturally curious about other players who achieved the same or better. “I was reading after Sunshine Doubles (winning Indian Wells and Miami). For sure I’m going to read now a little bit more, after the tournament. As I said, we have matches every day, so I don’t really find time for that. Also it’s not the thing that I want to be focused on when I’m playing. So basically I’m trying to avoid all that fuss and just play well right now. For sure I’m going to have time to do that after”.

Tomorrow at 1.00pm CET she will be facing either Ons Jabeur or Daria Kasatkina for what could be her 5th consecutive title in 2022.