After saving a match point to win what many pundits called the match of the tournament against Naomi Osaka in the second round, Swiatek found it much easier to control the outcome of points against World No.42 Bouzkova -- who had beaten No.29 seed Veronika Kudermetova in Paris' opening round but missed much of the clay-court season due to injury and played just two matches in the six weeks prior to Roland Garros.
In her first-ever meeting against Bouzkova, Swiatek broke serve four times, doubled Bouzkova's total of winners, and won seven of the last nine games in 1 hour and 33 minutes minutes on court in total.
Swiatek is assured of facing another unseeded player in the Round of 16, as she'll face either World No.41 Anastasia Potapova for a spot in the quarterfinals. Potapova came from 4-0 down in the first set of her 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-4 win against China's Wang Xinyu, ranked No.37.
4: After saving a match point in beating Osaka in the last round, Swiatek needed four to finally finish off Bouzkova. She had one on the Czech's serve in the seventh game of the second set, and was pushed to deuce from 40-15 on her own serve before closing the match out.
10: Despite her prior inactivity, Swiatek had reason to be wary of Bouzkova entering the match, as she owns 10 career Top 10 wins.
16: Swiatek is now 16-4 in her career against players from the Czech Republic, and 3-1 this year. She also avoided the fate that befell her at 2024's first Grand Slam, which was a third-round loss to Bouzkova's compatriot Linda Noskova.
17: Swiatek's win extended her unbeaten streak in Paris, and her clay-court unbeaten streak this year, to 17 straight matches. She's lost just three sets in Paris in that time.
18: In her six career appearances at Roland Garros, Swiatek has never lost in the first three rounds. She's 18-0 in those matches, and has only lost one set. She's the only woman this century to achieve the feat.
32: In total, Swiatek hit 32 winners in victory to Bouzkova's 16.
2 - Iga Swiatek is the second player since the WTA Rankings were published in 1975 to win a match as World No. 1 at the Roland Garros the day of her birthday after Justine Henin in 2007 against Mara Santangelo. Birthday.
6/6 - Iga Swiatek is the only player this Century to make the Women's Singles Fourth Round at the Roland Garros at each of their first six main draw appearances. Fantastic.
I think having the roof closed changes how the ball moves so I'm sure she'd appreciate feeling like she's playing an outdoor tournament again (having played 3 straight under the roof).
As for the match itself not much to say other than really solid and powerful shots and this time zero drama or stress.
Joy to watch as always.
Hope she got to spend the few hours left in her Birthday with her sister and Dad who arrived just for the occasion.
Happy 23rd Iga!.
Here is to many more celebrations just like this at your favourite place in the world. :)
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