Iga Swiatek makes 24 straight wins at Roland Garros tying an all time great

Iga Swiatek's quest for a fourth straight French Open title stayed on track Friday, as the top seed stretched her Paris winning streak to 24 with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Jaqueline Cristian to reach the Round of 16 for the seventh year running.

On the hottest day of the tournament so far, the three-time defending champion denied the recent Rabat finalist a final set, despite an inspired second-set performance. After getting through the first set without facing a break point, Swiatek saved all six she faced in the second set -- and denied Cristian a game point for a second-set tiebreak before breaking serve to win the match.

The prevailing emotion Swiatek felt after the 1-hour, 54-minute win? Relief.

"I'm just happy that I was super solid in the last game and didn't give any free points ... she used her chances and went for it every time I gave her a chance," Swiatek said afterward. "It was a great match and I think pretty entertaining. We both played nice. I'm happy I'm through and happy with the performance."

But that wasn't the only impressive number that came out of the victory for Swiatek.

She is now 38-2 in her first 40 matches at Roland Garros, tying queen of clay Chris Evert for the most main-draw wins at the tournament. She is also the sixth player to reach the Round of 16 in her first seven Roland-Garros appearances in the Open Era after Evert, Martina Navratilova, Gabriela Sabatini, Conchita Martinez and Monica Seles.

To tie Seles for the second longest winning streak at the French Open in the Open Era at 25, Swiatek will need to beat No. 12 seed Elena Rybakina who handled 2017 Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-2.

wtatennis.com  

She may not have won a title yet this year but tomorrow she turns 24 years old (I was off by a day in my last post) and the records just keep on coming. 

Another very solid performance today on a sweltering hot day. 

Iga showed real grit and patience in the 2nd set as her opponent started to put up more of a fight. Her foot speed proved vital (something that she has been missing since the clay season started). 

Coming to Roland Garros 10 days early and training was a really good call it turns out. So far she has done a really good job at changing her mindset as well although that will be truly tested when she has to face Rybakina on Sunday. 

Who thankfully took out Iga's nemesis Ostapenko. 

Rybakina's most dangerous weapon is her serve of course (something she used effectively with Ostapenko) and the deep shots she can hit to push Iga back. 

The first serve percentage was definitely not up at her usual standards however so if Iga does a good job protecting hers (ass she did today saving all 6 break points she faced) she may be able to use that to her advantage. 

Iga does have a better 2nd serve as well so I truly believe she can win. 

Definitely has to move Rybakina around and use her speed. The only tournament with conditions remotely similar to Roland Garros is Rome. 

Which Iga last played with Rybakina a few years ago where she retired due to a rib issue (so I never count this as a win). Really the only time Rybakina has beaten Iga on clay is the indoor tournament of Stuttgart. Completely different. 

It defintely will not be easy in the lightest but there's a reason why Iga has won Roland Garros 4 of the past 5 years, she showed that today and I believe she'll do so again on Sunday. 

Jazda Iga!.

Iga Swiatek makes it 23 straight wins at Roland Garros

 

Iga Swiatek a four-time Roland Garros champion and three-time defending winner, extended her streak at the French Open to 23 consecutive matches with a commanding 6-1, 6-2 win over Emma Raducanu on Wednesday.

After early exits in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome, Swiatek looked locked in. She converted four of six break points, saved all four against her, and finished with 31 winners to just 22 unforced errors. She won all nine points at net and 63 of 100 overall.

After.ward, Swiatek was succinct.

“From the beginning, I knew what I wanted to do -- so I just did it,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I had a good time on the court, and I felt the game pretty well, so I just went for it.”

Only three players have put together longer streaks at Roland Garros: Chris Evert (29), Monica Seles (25) and Justine Henin (24). Swiatek can draw even with Henin in Friday’s third round, where she’ll play Jaqueline Cristiana, a three-set winner over qualifier Sara Bejlek

Time and again, Swiatek’s revved-up topspin forehand pushed Raducanu back, opening up the court for a number of shorter balls. Her footwork, which she criticized after losing a straight-sets third-round match in Rome, was mostly impeccable.

“In recent weeks, every time I stepped out, I felt differently,” Swiatek said. “Like sometimes I felt like super confident and everything, and sometimes I just lacked energy. So it was hard to navigate that.

“This is a totally different tournament. I have been feeling good, and that’s it.

Raducanu managed to win only one game the last time they met, back in January in the third round of the Australian Open, but the two previous matches on clay were quite close.

Not this time, although Raducanu came out quickly, intent on attacking the No. 5 seed’s second serve and playing aggressively.

Crowding the baseline, she induced Swiatek to double fault in the opening game and collected her first break point. Swiatek erased it with a booming serve and after a tense six minutes managed to hold.

Swiatek scored her first break 21 minutes in to take a 3-1 lead. She held and broke Raducanu a second time before serving out the first set -- with her first ace of the match.

The second set looked a lot like the first, with Swiatek collecting another pair of breaks.

Raducanu, looking to reach the third round here for the first time, lost her fifth straight meeting against a former major champion and is 1-8 against Top 5 opponents.

“I think in the beginning of the match it was pretty tight,” Raducanu said later. “As it went on, I think she grew in confidence. I just felt a bit exposed.

“It’s difficult. You just don’t really feel like there is that much space on the court, and certain moments you overhit, because yeah, you just feel constant pressure.”

Swiatek has now beaten the 2021 US Open champion five times in five tries -- and has yet to drop a set. Instructively, she is the only player of either gender to reach the third round in all 21 Grand Slam singles draws played since 2020.

The 23-year-old Polish player is now 37-2 at Roland Garros, the second-best winning percentage (.949) of the Open era, and has 37 match-wins at the French Open, most among current players.

“I played two good matches, but I can’t expect that it’s all going to be easy now,” Swiatek said. “Because you always need to be on your toes and ready for what life brings you. One day it’s going to be good, one day it’s not going to be so easy.

“For sure coming here to Roland Garros, I feel like I like this place. I always played well here. It gives you some positive kick.”

wtatennis.com

When Iga plays well it's like watching a work of art being created right in front of your eyes. 

Today was the best I've seen Iga play since the clay season begun. it felt like the Iga of old, confident, going for her shots even winning 9 out of 9 points at net. 

And she looked happy on court, enjoying herself instead of looking stiff and stressed. It was like a breath of fresh air. 

A win like this was truly needed. She's going to need these positive feeling and confidence for the rounds ahead because it only gets harder. 

Though her 3rd round opponent became slightly less so once Marta Kostyuk went out. It's the 4th round where the difficulty goes up. 

Iga would play either Elena Raybakina or the bane of her existence Jelena Ostapenko (who's the only player on the entire WTA Iga has not yet beaten) in 6 tries. 

Her head to head with Rybakina is definitely better having won the last 3 times they've played. 

If Iga gets through on Friday she would next play Sunday the 31stt of March which happens to be her 24th Birthday. 

Talk about an awful Birthday present possibly having to play your nemesis or the woman you feel uncomfortable against.  On the other hand it would  certainly feel even sweeter were she to finally get a win.

But as before we take it one match at a time and believe.

Jazda!

Stat of the day

90 - Among players who debuted in Women’s Singles Grand Slam events since 1990, only three have made 90 such wins in fewer matches than Iga Swiatek (109). Superpower.

Iga Swiatek starts Roland Garros title defense with a confident win

 

For the second major in a row, Iga Swiatek and Emma Raducanu will meet in the first week.

No. 5 seed Iga Swiatek had to navigate a slightly trickier test than she is accustomed to in Grand Slam first rounds, coming from 3-1 down in the second set to open her Roland Garros title defense with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Rebecca Sramkova. Raducanu followed after overcoming Wang Xinyu 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a 2-hour, 44-minute thriller on Court 8.

In the third round of the Australian Open in January, Swiatek routed Raducanu 6-0, 6-1 in 1 hour and 10 minutes. The former World No. 1 has yet to drop a set to Raducanu in four meetings. However, their closest meetings have both come on clay, in the Stuttgart quarterfinals in 2022 and 2024. On those occasions, Swiatek came through 6-4, 6-4 and 7-6(2), 6-3 respectively.

"I didn't really think about [the Australian Open] match, honestly," Swiatek said after defeating Sramkova. "I was thinking about our Stuttgart match, and I think we played another time on clay after -- I'm not sure. I'm not good at that. But I don't really take a lot from that except the experience and ... knowing how she plays.

"But Melbourne and Roland Garros [are] totally different surfaces, different stories. I'll prepare tactically as I should before a clay court match, and that's it."

Raducanu, meanwhile, will enter the match with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

"It's a match for me where I can really test and challenge myself," she said. "Especially on clay, it's her preferred tournament, surface. She's won it, like, four times. It's a match where I can just ... go for my shots, because I know if I just push the ball, I'm probably going to get eaten."

Swiatek survives challenge from Sramkova

Sramkova was also a repeat opponent from Melbourne for Swiatek. In the second round of the Australian Open, Swiatek had needed just an hour to win 6-0, 6-2. In the rematch, No. 42-ranked Sramkova brought a higher level to the court, holding her own in high-octane baseline rallies and striking 23 winners, just two fewer than Swiatek's 25.

Blending power with touch on the drop shot and lob, Sramkova made the first half of both sets tightly contested -- but Swiatek asserted her authority when it mattered. At 3-3 in the first set, the former World No. 1 upped her aggression levels to pressure Sramkova with a series of winners, converting her third break point with a sweet backhand down the line. From 3-1 down in the second set, Swiatek took back control with a rapid-fire run through 10 consecutive points, and ultimately five straight games.

The result extended four-time champion Swiatek's winning streak at Roland Garros to 22, and her winning streak in WTA tournament opening matches to 60. Her last losses in both came to Maria Sakkari -- in the 2021 Roland Garros quarterfinals and 2021 WTA Finals Guadalajara round-robin respectively.

wtatennis.com

Iga Swiatek suffers earliest exit at Rome Open in 4 years

I went into this Rome Open with lower expectations after the Madrid loss, but with the hope that something might just click at a tournament she's had so much success. 

My hopes were raised with her first round victory over Cocciarretto, but quickly dashed when it become apparent it would be more of the same today. 

Serve completely let her down in the first set (double faulted in both times to give Collins a double break) so she really didn't have to do much to win it. 

At least Iga avoided the bagel and lost it 1/6. The 2nd set was much closer, with more fight and Iga did have chances to take it, just couldn't do so ended up losing it 5/7. 

With this loss the worst has happened and Iga will drop in the rankings from number 2 to #4 (a spot she held on to for 3 years) . This also marks Iga's 9th defeat this season (which equals her entire total from last year).

The last time Iga lost this early was five years ago to Arantxa Rus
 

She was 18 at the time. She has been virtually unbeatable here winning the title three of the past four years. Before today Iga had won an astounding 21 of her past 22 matches at Foro Italico -- that’s a winning percentage of 91.3 -- second only to Chris Evert’s 92.3. 

So yeah this one hurts quite a bit.

It's hard to say what the problem is honestly. 

Whether it's just Iga losing her mental edge (and locker room aura), and the opponents knowing Iga is vulnerable and lacking in confidence. 

Being shaken by all the events of the past year (Olympics loss & doping suspension).

The pressure of having to defend 3 titles on her fave surface.

Or if it's some deeper issue we're not privy to. 

Only Iga truly knows. 

I said after her loss in Miami, that I'd start to worry if we see the same issues on clay as on hard court (and give her a pass in Madrid due to the altitude). 

After this latest loss I'm equal parts worried and sad. 

Iga is most definitely in a slump something that every player goes through (often more then once in their career) but something which Iga is definitely not familiar with in her very young career. 

Currently she's losing matches with herself rather than her opponents beating her.

Going into Roland Garros this year with no titles will be a new experience for both her fans and Iga herself. 

I'll always have faith in Iga when it comes to clay, but while I still have hope, I'm not certain that she can solve whatever is going on in the next 2 weeks. 

My only hope is that the fall in the rankings will take at least a bit of the pressure off (which she has been clearly feeling quite a bit) and she might play a bit looser knowing that while she's still favourite due to being the defending champions she's not THE favourite based on form. 

Just writing that last paragraph almost physically hurt. Roland Garros has been synonymous with Iga for basically the past 4 years and to suddenly not have that be more of certainty is very jarring. 

And it really dampens my enthusiasm for the Parisian clay this year. 

If Iga is unable to defend her French Open crown she'll most likely fall to #8 or 9 in live rankings. But that's neither here nor there at the moment. 

Right now I simply want to see Iga play freely again, play her game without tension and see her feel the joy that she has playing this sport because right now even that seems to be missing. 

And it's quite tough to watch (makes me want to give her a big hug).

Having been a fan of this sport for many years I'm aware of how many peaks and valley's a players career can have so I'm by no means giving up on Iga and will continue to support her in this tough time. 

Because I know someone with her talent, will come out stronger on the other side. Even if it may take some time to get there. I believe she will. 

I just wish social media and (Polish) media in general would cut her some slack and allow her to figure it out out without the constant microscopic criticizing.

Because this  current dip does not in any way diminish all her previous astounding accomplishments (which no other Polish player has ever even gotten close to).

So keep your chin up Iga, we're still with you through thick and thin. There will be better times ahead. 

Jazda!.

Iga Swiatek hopes to start moving better after Madrid loss

MADRID (AP) — Iga Swiatek's struggles continue.

Again unable to move well on the court, the five-time Grand Slam champion extended her streak of not reaching a final after a demoralizing 6-1, 6-1 loss to Coco Gauff in the semifinals of the Madrid Open on Thursday.

Swiatek hasn't gotten past the last-four in any tournament since winning the French Open—for the fourth time—last June. She hadn't won just two or fewer games in a match on any surface since 2019.

"I feel like I haven't been moving well," Swiatek said. "The tennis also was like on and off, you know, for most of the tournament. So I wasn't really sure what I have in my tool box. I didn't even have a plan B because nothing was working today."

The second-ranked Swiatek said "everything kind of collapsed" because of her difficulties moving on the court.

"I feel like I wasn't even in the right place with my feet, you know, before the shots," she said. "Yeah, I wish I would have moved better, because I think that would get me an opportunity to bounce back, because this is usually what happens. But today for sure I didn't move well."

Swiatek lost six games in a row for the second straight day. She had recovered from losing the first set 0-6 to Madison Keys on Wednesday's quarterfinals. In her opening match in Madrid, Swiatek trailed teenager Alexandra Eala a set and a break before bouncing back.

"I didn't play well even on these matches that I won," Swiatek said. "I think I pushed kind of with my head, you know, for more than I even should, tennis-wise."

The last time Swiatek won only two or fewer games on any surface was a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Birmingham in 2019.

The 23-year-old Pole said "hopefully one day it's going to click, but I'm not expecting anything, I'm just going to try to work" on trying to move better and give herself greater chances.

"For sure I feel heavy, and you are like forcing everything instead of going by intuition and by itself, you know," she said. "Because I know how I can move, and usually I didn't have to think about it much. But for last weeks it hasn't been that easy. I've been like forcing myself to go lower, to be more precise with my feet, because it's not going by itself."

Swiatek said she didn't think her struggles moving were linked to a lack of self confidence.

"No, because I felt fine today," she said. "I'm not a different player than I was like for past years in terms of my attitude or my emotions."

Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion, has been nearly unbeatable on clay, according to the WTA. Only Steffi Graf (.750) has a higher win rate against Top 10 opponents than Swiatek (.700) in the previous 35 years.

Swiatek was the defending champion at the Madrid Open.

tennis.com

Defending champion Iga Swiatek falls in the semis of Madrid Open

 All due respect to Coco Gauff and her abilities but it was very clear today that Iga was going through something. 

I thought it might be a crises of confidence due to something personal, or perhaps still a bit of a residual effect of everything that happened last year (losing at the Olympics and the ban suspension). 

As it turns out (assuming the media reports are true) Iga was dealing with something very personal indeed, the loss of her Grandpa. And even having to attend his funeral right before this tournament. 

She did mention going home to take care of something of a personal nature. 

So now it all makes sense. 

The fact she was able to battle and even play at all with everything going on is worthy of nothing but respect. 

I hope she has someone to lean on at such a tough time and that her team is giving her everything she needs. 

All this coupled with the mental pressure  of the sport and having to defend so many points certainly doesn't help (no wonder she broke down in tears on court today). 

Just goes to show how we often forget that athletes are human and we as fans have no idea what goes on in their lives off the court and how and when something will effect them.  

Maybe the slower conditions of Rome with no altitude will allow Iga's game to click a bit more and at least bring her a little joy. 

But all that is secondary at the moment. 

My heart truly goes out to Iga having to go to Rome and try and defend yet another title (when I'm sure she'd rather be home grieving  over a loved one). 

Deepest heartfelt condolences Iga, stay strong. We're with you.♥