Iga Swiatek kept her hopes of a successful French Open title defence alive as she survived a major scare to beat Elena Rybakina in three sets.
The Polish great prevailed 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 over world No 11 Rybakina in a last 16 thriller lasting two and a half hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Swiatek looked in danger of a heavy defeat when she trailed 1-6, 0-2 as Rybakina was at her devastating best in the first nine games.
The world No 5 broke back in the fourth game of the second set before staving off three break points in the fifth game en route to turning the set around.
In the deciding set, Swiatek broke to take a 4-3 lead, but she was pegged back as Rybakina took a 5-4 lead.
Swiatek showed her champion’s mentality, though, as she won the final three games to seal a hard-fought triumph against the 2022 Wimbledon champion.
In her on-court interview, Swiatek said: “Well, it was tough. First set, I felt like I’m playing against Jannik Sinner. Elena really pushed me.
“I needed to do something to get back into the game and honestly, with her playing like that, I didn’t have a lot of hopes (laughs), but I just kept fighting and I’m happy that I did that because every game I felt like I could loosen up even more. And at the end, I was able to play my game, so I’m super happy.”
Swiatek, who is the three-time reigning French Open champion, has become just the third woman to amass a 25-match winning streak at the event.
The five-time major winner has emulated tennis legend Monica Seles, who won the same number of consecutive Roland Garros matches across four appearances between 1990 and 1996 (she did not play between 1993-1995).
Seven-time French Open winner Chris Evert won a record 29 successive matches at the clay-court Grand Slam across five appearances between 1974 and 1981 (she did not play in 1976-1978).
More to follow…
French Open News
Former world No 2 warns ‘you always need to count on Iga Swiatek’ at French Open
The post Iga Swiatek ‘felt like she was playing Jannik Sinner’ in French Open thriller against Elena Rybakina appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply