Iga Swiatek dismissed Elisabetta Cocciaretto in just 52 minutes as she opened her account at the Italian Open on Thursday.
Second-ranked Swiatek arrived in Italy following a disheartening straight-set loss to Coco Gauff during the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.
READ: Iga Swiatek was defeated decisively by Coco Gauff in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.
However, the 23-year-old Polish player lost only one game in securing a victory of 6-1, 6-0 over Italian Cocciaretto, advancing to the third round where she will face either American Danielle Collins or Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
Swiatek has claimed victory at the Italian Open three times and is leveraging the clay court event as an essential stepping stone for defending her French Open championship. However, she hasn’t secured a win in any tournaments so far this season.
In another round two contest, ex-world top-ranked Naomi Osaka defeated Swiss competitor Viktorija Golubic with scores of 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Top-ranked player Jannik Sinner is set to come back from a three-month suspension for doping when he faces Mariano Navone this Saturday. Navone advanced to the match against Sinner by defeating Federico Cina with scores of 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday.