Paris, May 28: Top-ranked Iga Swiatek won her 31st consecutive match and is into the fourth round at Roland Garros for the fourth time in four appearances with a sometimes-shaky 6-3, 7-5 victory over Danka Kovinic.
Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, has now collected 48 of the past 49 sets she has played. Her winning streak is the longest in women’s tennis since Serena Williams won 34 in a row in 2013.
Swiatek improved her career record at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament to 17-2, a winning percentage of .895.
This one was not entirely smooth sailing for Swiatek against the 95th-ranked Kovinic, however.
Swiatek’s forehand was a particular trouble spot: That stroke was responsible for 17 of her 23 unforced errors.
The 20-year-old from Poland dropped four straight games to trail 5-4 in the second set before righting herself and claiming the last three to wrap up the win in 90 minutes.
Kovinic was playing in the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the second time. The other was at the Australian Open in January, when she lost to eventual champion Ash Barty.
Barty retired in March and was replaced at No. 1 in the WTA rankings by Swiatek.
Irina-Camelia Begu reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in six years, getting there at Roland Garros one match after being fined $10,000 for tossing her racket and having it brush a child in the stands.
The 63rd-ranked Romanian advanced by beating 227th-ranked French wild-card entry Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-4.
Begu is 31 and participating in her 41st major tournament. Her best showings previously were fourth-round runs at the 2015 Australian Open and the 2016 French Open.
Jeanjean was appearing in her first tour-level event and beat two-time major finalist and former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova in the second round. (AP)
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