Swiatek makes fast start at Italian Open

Iga Swiatek dismissed Elisabetta Cocciaretto in just 52 minutes as she opened her account at the Italian Open on Thursday.

World number two Swiatek came to Italy on the back of a demoralising straight-sets defeat to Coco Gauff in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.

But the 23-year-old Pole dropped just a single game in winning 6-1, 6-0 against Italian Cocciaretto to move onto a third-round meeting with either American Danielle Collins or Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania.

“I felt like the ball was kind of listening to me today and I had full control over the match, so it’s always pretty comfortable to play a match like that,” Swiatek said.

“You just need to continue the work you’ve been doing and not expect that it’s going to happen more often.”

Swiatek is a three-time winner of the Italian Open and is using the claycourt tournament as a key step towards her defence of her French Open title, but she is yet to win a tournament this season.

In another second-round match, former world number one Naomi Osaka came from behind to overcome lucky loser Viktorija Golubic 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Sixth seed Jasmine Paolini, cheered on by her home crowd, was a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 winner against Lulu Sun of New Zealand and will face Ons Jabeur in round three after the Tunisian benefited from a walkover against Petra Kvitova.

Men’s world number one Jannik Sinner will make his return to competition after a three-month doping ban by facing Mariano Navone on Saturday after the Argentinian beat Federico Cina 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday.