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.”
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.
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