Swiatek battles past Putintseva to set up fourth-round clash with Kerber in Rome

World number one Swiatek will next face either Angelique Kerber, who defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 7-6, as she bids to become the first person since Serena Williams to claim a third title at the Foro Italico.

Swiatek won the 2021 and 2022 editions before exiting a year ago in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Elena Rybakina, who withdrew with illness on Friday.

The Pole came into the event having won the Madrid Open last weekend and will also be gunning for a fourth French Open crown later this month.

She made harder work than expected of Saturday's match after comfortably taking the first set, finding herself 4-1 down and having to save four break points to stop unseeded Puntintseva from serving for the second.

However, Swiatek broke back before levelling the set and rattled off five games in a row to take her record against Puntintseva to four wins without dropping a set.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Noami Osaka also progressed after winning her third-round clash with 10th-seed Daria Kasatkina, 6-3, 6-3 in the Grand Stand Arena.

Osaka is ranked 173 in the world after taking a break from the tour to have her first child but has looked in good form in straight-set wins over Clara Burel and Marta Kostyuk before her win over Kasatkina.