Iga Swiatek through to 2023 Stuttgart Open quarter-finals after win over Qinwen Zheng

Iga Swiatek held off a spirited challenge from Qinwen Zheng in the second round of the Stuttgart Open in Germany on Thursday afternoon.

The 21-year-old, ranked No. 1 in the world after landing the French Open and US Open last year, is just a year older than Zheng but demonstrated her superior experience.

In February, Swiatek successfully defended her Qatar Open title, but missed the chance to retain her Miami Open trophy through injury ahead of her appearance in Stuttgart.

Zheng had defeated Alycia Parks in her first-round match, and as the WTA Newcomer of the Year last year she would have had high hopes of making an impression in 2023, but was unable to resist the Pole in Germany.

Swiatek converted two of three break points in the first set and swiftly took it 6-1, but her momentum faltered a little as Zheng moved to 3-2 behind to at least improve upon her first-set showing.

For a moment it looked like the promising up-and-comer from China was going to force things to a deciding third set when she took the scores to 4-4, but Swiatek took the remaining games to move into the quarter-finals.

“I’m really happy that I’m not rusty,” Swiatek said after her victory. “It was difficult, especially because I didn’t play since Indian Wells, so I felt like I really needed to be 100% focused.”

Swiatek will face Karolina Pliskova in the quarter-finals in Stuttgart on Friday afternoon following the Czech’s three-set win over Donna Vekic.

Elsewhere, Coco Gauff lost 6-2 6-3 to Anastasia Potapova, who will face the Tatjana Maria after she beat Caroline Garcia 7-6(5) 6-4 in the final match of the day’s play.

Paula Badosa beat Cristina Bucsa 6-1 6-2 to set up a quarter-final against Aryna Sabalenka.

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