Playing her first career match in Wuhan, Swiatek was in control against Bouzkova from start to finish on Tuesday night, needing just an hour and 19 minutes to win in straight sets.
And Swiatek won her games in fours—first, she jumped out to a 4-0 lead, then Bouzkova got one of the breaks back to make it 4-1. Then she won another four games in a row to go up 6-1, 2-0, and Bouzkova held to make it 6-1, 2-1. The Pole then reeled off another four games in a row to cross the finish line.
She was asked afterwards about her tournament debut.
“It’s nice to play in a city I’ve never been to,” she said. “It’s something new, and I really appreciate that because of the repetition of the tour—I’m really happy to be in Wuhan and get to know the city. I’m happy with the performance as well.”
And it was a very strong performance, stats-wise—Swiatek finished the match with 35 winners to 23 unforced errors, and even won eight of the nine points she played at net.
Bouzkova kept her stats clean with three winners to seven unforced errors, but Swiatek was just too powerful on the day.
