Swiatek and Sabalenka advance at Roland Garros: Clay dominance!

At the prestigious Roland Garros tournament, the current women’s champion, Iga Swiatek, and the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, advanced to the fourth round. Both tennis players have demonstrated remarkable dominance, without conceding any sets so far.

Sabalenka, winner of three Grand Slam titles and a semi-finalist once at the French Open, defeated Olga Danilovic with a score of 6-2, 6-3 on the Philippe-Chatrier court.

The ball flies much faster. The bounces are much higher.

Aryna Sabalenka

Swiatek, with four of her five major titles won at Roland-Garros, defeated Jaqueline Cristian with scores of 6-2, 7-5 on the Suzanne-Lenglen court. This victory extends her winning streak at the French Open to 23 matches. The second set, which lasted 1 hour and 16 minutes, tested the 23-year-old Polish player, who celebrated the victory with relief.

She took her chances and just went for it. It doesn’t bother me. On clay, it gives the balls an extra bounce.

Iga Swiatek

The image of Sabalenka and Swiatek, with 20 winners and 21 unforced errors in their victory, reflects the intense competition.

Sabalenka, 27, has reached six singles finals this year, the most for a woman before Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2013. Swiatek is looking to reach her first final since winning her third consecutive French Open title, and fourth overall. Swiatek aims to become the first woman to win here four consecutive times in the Open era. Her first title was in 2020, and her other major title was at the 2022 US Open.

When asked who felt more pressure to win this year’s French Open, Sabalenka replied jokingly: “Let’s leave it to Iga, since she won it, what, three times in a row?”

The defending men’s champion, Carlos Alcaraz, also entered the action on Friday. Alcaraz, ranked number 2, faced Damir Dzumhur, who suffered a left knee injury during his second-round victory. In other women’s results, Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen defeated 18-year-old qualifier Victoria Mboko with a score of 6-3, 6-4. In addition, Amanda Anisimova and Liudmila Samsonova also advanced. In the remaining matches of the women’s third round, Coco Gauff will face Marie Bouzkova on the Philippe-Chatrier court, and Jessica Pegula will play against Marketa Vondrousova earlier on the same court. There will be an American showdown on the Suzanne-Lenglen court between Madison Keys and Sofia Kenin.