Iga Swiatek shares message on social media after win over angry Victoria Azarenka in Bad Homburg

Iga Swiatek has progressed into the quarter-finals of the Bad Homburg Open after knocking out Victoria Azarenka.

Swiatek has been told to ignore outside advice in her bid to return to WTA number one, having recently fallen to eighth place in the world rankings.

French Open finalists Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff occupy spots one and two respectively, with the latter having won the title at Roland Garros.

Swiatek congratulated Gauff on her success at the French Open, where the Pole lost in the semi-finals to Sabalenka.

But the former world number one is currently focused on the Bad Homburg Open, where Swiatek is the fourth seed.

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Iga Swiatek shares message after beating angry Victoria Azarenka in Bad Homburg

And she took out two-time Grand Slam champion Azarenka in her opener, winning their round of 16 tie 6-4, 6-4.

She needed one hour and 36 minutes to secure the straight-sets victory and book a spot in the last eight.

READ MORE: Iga Swiatek shares her honest opinion and how losing the number one ranking made her feel

Then taking to social media with images of the match and of herself wearing a Bad Homburg crown, Swiatek wrote on Instagram: “First one under the belt. See you on Thursday!”

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Victoria Azarenka launches angry tirade in Bad Homburg loss to Iga Swiatek

And that won’t leave Azarenka too pleased, although more frustrating for the Belarusian was the match itself.

At 4-6, 4-5(30-15), she launched a tirade at the umpire, saying of her opponent:“Every time it’s the same story.

READ MORE: Coco Gauff responds to Aryna Sabalenka’s claim that Iga Swiatek would have beaten her in the Roland Garros final

“As soon as she’s down in the game, she’s taking her time. Like over the time. And you’re not checking. Every time.”

A furious Azarenka left the umpire perplexed, while Swiatek simply returned to game mode before going on to seal the win.

And it was significant for more reasons than one, with Swiatek becoming the player with the fewest matches played to clinch 300 WTA Tour wins since Serena Williams.

As per OptaAce, the Pole needed 372 matches to achieve the feat, with the American legend having needed 359.

It is a fantastic achievement from the five-time Grand Slam champion, and one which should give her a much-needed confidence boost.

A winning run in Bad Homburg would do the same for Swiatek, who is among the players taking on the WTA 500 event right before Wimbledon.

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