Swiatek feeling freshest in years at Australian Open

MELBOURNE : Iga Swiatek had the ball dancing to her tune in a dominant victory over Emma Raducanu at the Australian Open on Saturday and the five-times Grand Slam champion said she had never felt better at the year's opening Grand Slam.

The 23-year-old Pole has never lifted the title at Melbourne Park but made her intentions clear with a commanding 6-1 6-0 win over former U.S. Open champion Raducanu to reach the last 16, where she will next face lucky loser Eva Lys.

"I feel much more fresh than in the past two years," Swiatek told a press conference.

"Even though it's the beginning of the season, in the last two years I felt much more fatigue and also a bit more stress, I would say. This also comes together.

"So yeah, for sure I can now just focus on improving my game rather than, like, feeling better," added Swiatek, who served a one-month doping ban late last year but has not let it become a distraction at the Grand Slam.

After a long reign as the world number one, Swiatek was leapfrogged by Aryna Sabalenka in the rankings after the U.S. Open, while her ban cost her points late last season.

She can return to the top after the Australian Open if defending champion Sabalenka does not make the semi-finals.

On Saturday, Swiatek sent out a warning to her rivals was delighted with her overall performance.

"I kept my discipline from the beginning to the end, and even if sometimes I didn't play the way I wanted I immediately corrected it," Swiatek told Reuters.

"I had the opportunity to actually play the kind of shots that I often do in practice. Sometimes in matches, when I'm a little stressed, they come out differently.

"Today, I just played intensely, I went after the ball, the ball listened to me. I played great."

She dedicated her victory to her grandfather.

"Even though these are not final rounds of a tournament, I feel like I'm playing good," Swiatek said.

"This tournament already has a nice story to it. I wanted to dedicate it to him."