Madrid Open: Swiatek breezes past Noskova to return to last 16

Iga Swiatek, the second seed, defeated No 31 seed Linda Noskova 6-4, 6-2 to move into the last 16 of the Madrid Open at the Caja Mágica.

It is the fourth time in as many appearances in Madrid that Swiatek has reached the round of 16, having won the title last season and finished runner-up in 2023.

Noskova memorably knocked Swiatek out of last year’s Australian Open, but there was no hint of an upset today as dialled-in, business-like performance from the world No 2 was too much for the Czech to handle.

Swiatek broke four times to Noskova’s one, breezing through the second set with a double break without reply.

Swiatek, ranked No 2, will play Russian Diana Shnaider, the No 13 seed, next.

Ahead of her victory, the Pole defeated Filipino wildcard Alexandra Eala (4-6, 6-4, 6-2).

Noskova, ranked No 31, won against Argentinian qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle (7-5, 6-1) in the previous round of the Madrid tournament.

Madrid WTA 1000, other third-round results (Caja Mágica, clay, EUR 7.854.000, most recent results first):

• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Daria Kasatkina
• Elena Rybakina vs. Elina Svitolina
• Jessica Pegula vs. Moyuka Uchijima
• Rebeka Masarova vs. Peyton Stearns
• Maria Sakkari vs. Jasmine Paolini
• Sofia Kenin vs. Anastasia Potapova
• Veronika Kudermetova vs. Marta Kostyuk
• Aryna Sabalenka vs. Elise Mertens
• Donna Vekic vs. Emma Navarro
• Coco Gauff (4) beat Ann Li: 6-2, 6-3
• Belinda Bencic beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (16): 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2)
• Madison Keys (5) beat Anna Kalinskaya (30): 7-5, 7-6 (3)
• Yuliia Starodubtseva (Q) beat Liudmila Samsonova (18): 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0
• Diana Shnaider beat Anastasija Sevastova: 6-0, 6-0
• Mirra Andreeva (7) beat Magdalena Frech (27): 7-5, 6-3