Tokyo 2020 tennis - Superb Iga Swiatek reaches next round, Heather Watson dumped out of Olympics
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Updated 24/07/2021 at 05:07 GMT
Number six seed Iga Swiatek booked her place in the next round of Tokyo 2020 with a commanding straight set victory over Germany's Mona Barthel. Swiatek is competing in her first Olympics, while it was a disappointing day on the court of Team GB's Heather Watson. The Brit came out on the wrong end of a tight contest with Germany's Anna-Lena Friedsam.
Heather Watson of Team Great Britain plays a backhand during the practice session ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
Image credit: Getty Images
Number six seed Iga Swiatek made short work of Germany’s Mona Barthel 6-2 6-2 to reach the next round of the women’s single tournament at Tokyo 2020.
The Pole, appearing in her first Olympics, was near faultless in the first set, winning six games in a row and appearing unstoppable both on her return game and when serving.
Barthel struggled to match Swiatek’s accuracy on points and was wasteful when opportunities did come her way.
The German did capitalise on three break points in the sixth game to finally end Swiatek’s winning streak, but normal service soon resumed.
Barthel would claw her way back into the match to 5-2, but couldn’t stop Swiatek successfully serving for the first set in just 39 minutes.
The second set was almost a carbon copy of the first, with Swiatek dropping just two games and posting an even speedier victory.
Barthel lasted just 28 minutes in the second set and the medal favourite will face either Spain’s Paula Badosa or France’s Kristina Mladenovic in the next round.
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Elsewhere on Saturday Heather Watson was dumped out of the Olympics by Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam after losing a razor thin match 7-6 6-3 on Court 1.
The game swung back and forth in the sweltering heat with each woman performing strongly on their service game.
Friedsam came closest to breaking her opponent in the second game, wasting three break points, and then had to defend a break point of her own in the seventh.
Watson was playing some superb tennis in spells with a delicate drop shot catching the eye but momentum was hard to come by for either women.
The first set was decided by an equally tight tie-break, with Friedsam only just seeing off Watson 7-5 to finally bring the first set to a close.
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The opening game of the first set was almost a mirror image of a topsy turvy first set, with 17 exchanges of points between the rivals.
Friedsam would eventually break Watson at the third time of asking and from there the German was finally able to take charge of the match.
With both players appearing to wilt slightly under the sun, icebags were regular features between games, tiredness began to creep into Watson’s game.
Friedsam was able to benefit off some missed shots, racing into a 4-2 lead and eventually offered the chance to serve for the match.
Watson carved out three break points but bounced her racket off the court in frustration when Friedsam battled back to hold serve and move 5-3 ahead.
An easy shot fired straight into the net unravelled Watson in the deciding game and the Brit bowed out of the Olympics off the back of a broken service game.
“I think whoever I played, I would have been really disappointed with the outcome today," Watson said post-match. "It definitely wasn’t my best tennis but I gave it my best with what I had, it just wasn’t enough.
“There were too many unforced errors that came and went in waves. I am just very disappointed with the outcome.”
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