Reigning French Open champ Iga Swiatek went down in straight sets to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round of WTA Melbourne 2, also known as the WTA Gippsland Trophy. The match lasted for 79 minutes and the scorecard read- 6-4, 6-2.

Swiatek came into the match battling a three-setter against 104th ranked Kaja Juvan. And now, just before the Australian Open 2021, Swiatek doesn’t look too good on the hard courts of Melbourne.

Iga Swiatek vs Ekaterina Alexandrova: First set

Swiatek didn’t look well settled from the start. She had trouble with her service, as she often found herself in lengthy service games. At 2-2, she was broken by Alexandrova. Alexandrova surprised Swiatek with her backhand angles and fast returns.

But a blip in concentration from Alexandrova saw Swiatek break back to level the first set 3-3. From here, Swiatek’s game fell flat as her strokes didn’t have much power and she wasn’t able to find her angles. Alexandrova caught Swiatek’s serves as Swiatek racked up unforced errors. Swiatek couldn’t change anything and thus Alexandrova broke Swiatek to lead 4-3 and from there won the first set 6-4.

Swiatek vs Alexandrova: Second set

After a below-par first set, Swiatek started off on a sour note. She lost her serve in the first game of the second set itself. Her strokes were trapped at the net and some shots were going way off the legal markings. Swiatek was trying a lot of things and thus Alexandrova caught her.

Swiatek never challenged Alexandrova in the second set. She didn’t see a breakpoint in the second set. Alexandrova now played a simple game and attacked Swiatek’s serve as she did in the first set. Under pressure, Swiatek made many unforced errors and thus was broken again at 4-2. Alexandrova then served to win the match and settled the scorecard– 6-4, 6-2.

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