Swiatek reaches French Open fourth round defeating Kovinic

PARIS: Top ranked Iga Swiatek ran into a spot of bother as she beat Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-3 7-5 to reach the fourth round of the French Open and extend her winning streak to 31 matches on Saturday. The Polish player, who is unbeaten since last February, has also won 46 of her last 47 sets after claiming titles on claycourt in Stuttgart and Rome.

The 2020 champion is bidding to become the fourth player since 2000 to lift the Suzanne Lenglen

Cup multiple times after Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova.

The 20-year-old is on the longest unbeaten run in the women’s tour since Serena Williams bagged 34 victories in succession in 2013.

“I wanted to play aggressively but maybe putting too much power and her balls were so powerful so it was tough to handle at full speed. I had to take fewer risks but she did a great job defending,” said Swiatek. Swiatek broke for 2-0 on her sixth opportunity but appeared to be struggling to handle her opponent’s heavy forehand.

Kovinic, the world number 95, even managed to break back in the seventh game but immediately dropped serve again with four unforced errors in a row. Swiatek followed up on serve to bag the opening set. Kovinic’s efforts took their toll as she had less stamina and she made more and more unforced errors, losing four consecutive games to allow the world number one to move 4-1 up. But she found some unsuspected resources to break back twice and even go 5-4 up after winning 11 points in a row.

Facing the prospect of dropping her first set in the tournament, Swiatek found better angles to level for 5-5 and break decisively when Kovinic completely misfired a forehand. Whipping the ball with poise, Swiatek wrapped it up on her second match point with an unreturnable serve.

Medvedev cruises into fourth round

Second seed Daniil Medvedev cruised past Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 6-2 victory in less than two hours on Saturday to advance to the fourth round.

The US Open champion, who reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year after four consecutive first-round exits, played near flawless service games throughout to give his opponent, ranked 31st in the world, no real chance.

“It was magnificent today. I did not have my serve broken,” Medvedev, runner-up at the Australian Open this season, said in an on-court interview. “On this surface it is quite unusual. Hopefully there are more such matches for me next week.

“Like in my French, I try to do better in my tennis all the time. The better I learn French the better my tennis will become.”

Medvedev found little resistance on his least favourite surface from the Serb 28th seed and broke him twice in the opening set before another early break made sure of a 2-0 set lead for the Russian.

He had arrived at the French Open with only one match on clay under his belt after undergoing a procedure to treat a hernia in April but it did not show against Kecmanovic, who tried to battle back only to be broken again at 2-2 following a lengthy rally and a slice backhand that went long.

RESULTS: (Selected): Women: I Swiatek bt D Kovinic 6-3, 7-5; C Giorgi bt A Sabalenka 4-6, 6-1, 6-0; Q Zheng bt A Cornet 6-0, 3-0 (walkover); D Kasatkina bt S Rogers 6-3, 6-2; J Pegula bt T Zidansek 6-1, 7-6 (2). Men: D Medvedev bt M Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-4, 6-2; M Cilic bt G Simon 6-0, 6-3, 6-2; J Sinner bt M McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-3; A Rublev bt C Garin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (11)

Are you in Chennai? Then click here to get our newspaper at your doorstep!