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DAY 4 WOMEN'S WRAP: Swiatek, Sabalenka and Paolini advance

football28 May 2025 18:40| © AFP
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Iga Swiatek © Getty Images

Four-time champion Iga Swiatek of Poland made light work of British Grand Slam winner Emma Raducanu in their French Open second round on Wednesday, notching up a 6-1 6-2 victory and stretching her winning run in Paris to 23 consecutive matches.

Order of Play | Win with SPAR | Watch Live on DStv

The world number five, looking to become the first woman in the professional era since 1968 to win four consecutive titles at the French Open, has now beaten the 2021 US Open champion in all five of their meetings -- all the wins coming in straight sets.

She will next meet either Czech Sara Bejlek or Jaqueline Cristian of Romania.

"I just wanted to play my game," Swiatek said. "I felt good on court. I thought I can do what I had planned to, adjust to the conditions because it was windy. I am happy that I did that well and I am through.

"Probably the top spin that I play," she said when asked about the reason for her success on the Parisian clay. "I love playing here. This place inspires me and makes me work harder. I am just ready to fight for it and compete."

The 22-year-old Raducanu, whose best result this season has been a quarterfinal spot in Miami, briefly kept up with Swiatek at the start, with the Pole making eight unforced errors in the first three games.

Swiatek, however, pulled herself together, breaking the Briton twice to quickly gobble up the first set.

Swiatek, who has unusually not won a title so far this season, broke her opponent again early in the second set. Raducanu, ranked 41st, did carve out three break opportunities of her own, when she was trailing 2-1, but could not convert any of them.

With her opponent keeping up the pressure, Raducanu, who was sick prior to her first-round game earlier in the week, was easy prey and lost the last three games on the trot as Swiatek wrapped up the win with a stunning backhand down the line on her second match point.

NADAL TOUCH HELPS PAOLINI REACH THIRD ROUND

Last year's French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini gave a touch to Rafael Nadal's footprint on Court Phlippe Chatrier before racing into the third round with a 6-3 6-3 victory against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic.

The Italian fourth seed was barely bothered in a one-sided affair on a gloomy Parisian day as she set up a meeting with Ukrainian lucky loser Yuliia Starodubtseva or Russian Anastasia Potapova.

During the warm-up, Paolini, who is trained by Nadal's former coach Marc Lopez, approached the permanent footprint of the 14-times French Open champion that was installed next to the net on Roland Garros's main court during a ceremony in the Spaniard's honour last Sunday, and gave it a light touch.

"It's hard to play against Ajla, she's very aggressive but I tried to mix it up and play aggressively myself," Paolini said.

"Last year, I played two matches here and a bit at the Olympics, now I'm a bit more used to it (Court Philippe Chatrier).

The diminutive Paolini, who easily handled Tomljanovic's all-in approach, sealed the opening set with a cross-court passing shot after dragging her opponent to the net with a subtle drop shot.

She kept her focus in the second set, wrapping it up in front of a barely half-capacity crowd - a common occurrence for the French Open opening match on the main court.

OLYMPIC CHAMPION ZHENG POWERS THROUGH

China's Zheng Qinwen powered past Colombia's Emiliana Arango to reach the third round as the Olympic champion again showed her liking for Parisian clay.

The 22-year-old swept to the Olympic title at Roland Garros last August and her 6-2 6-3 victory over Arango underlined why she is being tipped to win her first Grand Slam.

On cool and drizzly Court Suzanne Lenglen, eighth seed Zheng had too much firepower for her tricky 85th-ranked opponent, breaking serve at will during an impressive performance.

It was not all perfect though, with Zheng dropping serve in the opening game of the match and then twice in succession early in the second set as Arango began to extend the rallies and test the patience of her opponent.

But Zheng, the only Chinese player in the second round, remained focused to reach round three at the French Open for the third time in four appearances.

"It's not easy to play her, she put every ball back," Zheng, runner-up at the 2024 Australian Open, said on court. "It was not easy to finish the points.

"I was really happy with my performance today."

Next up will be Canada's 18-year-old qualifier Victoria Mboko after the world number 120 continued her impressive debut with a comfortable 6-4 6-4 win against Germany's Eva Lys.

Mboko is yet to drop a set through three rounds of qualifying and two in the main draw.

SABALENKA STEAMROLLS INTO THIRD ROUND

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominant start with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Jil Teichmann in the second round.

The three-time Grand Slam winner has dropped just five games at Roland Garros so far this year as she bids to reach the final in Paris for the first time.

Sabalenka, 27, conceded a surprise early break of serve in the third game but quickly rallied to win the opener.

The Belarusian then stormed into a 4-0 lead in the second set as she proved too powerful on Court Suzanne Lenglen for her Swiss opponent.

Sabalenka will face Olga Danilovic in the next round, after the 34th-ranked Serb fought past former world No 7 Danielle Collins in three sets.

MORE RESULTS

Olga Danilovic (SRB) bt Danielle Collins (USA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Clara Tauson (DEN x22) bt Arantxa Rus (NED) 7-6 (7/2), 7-5

Amanda Anisimova (USA x16) bt Viktorija Golubic (SUI) 6-0, 6-2

Dayana Yastremska (UKR) bt Diana Shnaider (RUS x11) 7-5, 7-5

Liudmila Samsonova (RUS x19) bt Leyre Romero Gormaz (ESP) 6-3, 6-3

Yuliia Starodubtseva (UKR) bt Anastasia Potapova (RUS) 7-6 (7/4), 6-2

Bernarda Pera (USA) bt Donna Vekic (CRO x18) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (10/3)

Elina Svitolina (UKR x13) bt Anna Bondar (HUN) 7-6 (7/4), 7-5

Elena Rybakina (KAZ x12) bt Iva Jovic (USA) 6-3, 6-3

Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x21) bt Caroline Dolehide (USA) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3

Jaqueline Cristian (ROM) bt Sara Bejlek (CZE) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3

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