The Prague Post - Rampant Swiatek ends Inglis fairytale at Australian Open

The Polish second seed, who is chasing a maiden Melbourne title, was in a different class to the Australian with a 6-0, 6-3 demolition job on Rod Laver Arena.

It brought to a close the "life-changing" run of Inglis, who was thrust into the primetime contest when Naomi Osaka withdrew from their third-round match with injury.

Just being in the fourth round earned Inglis Aus$480,000 (US$330,000) and crucial ranking points which she said before the match was "like a dream".

But, as expected, her tournament went no further with Swiatek on a mission.

"I felt pretty confident from the beginning," said Swiatek, who has won four French Opens, the US Open and Wimbledon but is yet to lift the trophy in Melbourne.

Last year, she surged into the last four but failed to get past eventual winner Madison Keys.

"I felt like the pace of the ball was much different than in my last round, so I needed to adjust with my legs and really be precise with the footwork. And I'm happy that I went for it."

Swiatek made a fast start, holding to love and breaking Inglis straight away.

When the Australian won her first point of the match the home crowd let out a massive roar, but they had little more to cheer about as a red-hot Swiatek got to work.

She was totally dominant in racing 5-0 clear and wrapped up the set in 32 minutes, with Inglis winning just 13 points.

Against the odds, three consecutive unforced errors handed Inglis a break in the first game of set two, with the 28-year-old throwing her arms the air and celebrating as if she had won the match.

Her joy was short-lived with Swiatek immediately breaking back and romping home with minimum fuss.

R.Rous--TPP