French Open: Swiatek steamrolls into Round of 16

Iga Swiatek swept into the Round of 16 at the French Open with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory over 80th-ranked Wang Xinyu

Paris: Defending champion Iga Swiatek swept into the Round of 16 at the French Open with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory over 80th-ranked Wang Xinyu on Court Philippe Chatrier, here on Saturday.

World No.1 Swiatek of Poland took just 51 minutes to dismiss Wang in their first clash at the tour level. Swiatek had edged Wang in their two very close meetings during their junior careers, but this time around, the top seed cruised to a win.

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Swiatek, the champion in 2020 as well as last year, has won her last ten matches at Roland Garros and is 24-2 throughout her career at the tournament.

After winning her first two matches this week by identical 6-4, 6-0 scorelines, Swiatek had an even easier time of it against Chinese No.5 Wang. Swiatek brings a comprehensive 19-game winning streak into the next round.

The 22-year-old Swiatek never faced a breakpoint on Saturday, and she fired 21 winners to Wang’s three. Wang was contesting her first third-round match at a Grand Slam event, but after the double bagel, she fell to 0-3 against the Top 10 players in her career.

Top-seeded Swiatek is still in the hunt to retain her World No.1 ranking coming out of Paris. Swiatek needs to reach at least the quarterfinals to have any chance of maintaining her hold on the top ranking.

In the fourth round, Swiatek will face the winner of Saturday’s upcoming match between 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu and former Top 25 player Lesia Tsurenko.