French Open: Iga Swiatek comes again to beat Elena Rybakina and prolong bid for a 4th title in a row

The big-serving and hard-hitting Rybakina — who received Wimbledon in 2022 — received off to a shocking begin, main 5-0 after lower than 20 minutes and grabbing 24 of the preliminary 32 factors. She was answerable for 10 of the match’s first 12 winners.

“I needed to do something to get back in the match and, honestly, with her playing like that, I didn’t have a lot of hope,” Swiatek mentioned afterward.

There was extra of the identical early within the second set, when Rybakina went up a break — Swiatek double-faulted to shut the primary recreation, then turned to her workforce within the stands along with her palms up and mentioned one thing — and led 2-0.

That, although, is when Swiatek all of a sudden reworked again into what she’s been so usually in latest seasons, however not over the previous 12 months: a seemingly invincible pressure on purple clay who has received 4 of the previous 5 titles on the French Open, the place she is now 39-2 for her profession.

She carried a 24-match event successful streak into Sunday and an opportunity to turn out to be the primary lady within the Open period, which started in 1968, to win the Roland-Garros trophy 4 years in a row.

That definitely appeared in peril on the outset in Court Philippe-Chatrier, the place Swiatek had hassle coping with Rybakina’s energy and repeatedly was pressured into errors. Given the tough stretch since June 2024 for Swiatek, a 23-year-old from Poland, perhaps it will not have been totally stunning for her to take a loss Sunday.

After all, Swiatek hasn’t reached the ultimate of any occasion since incomes the trophy in Paris a yr in the past and has slid from No. 1 to No. 5 within the WTA rankings.

That rut features a shocking exit within the semifinals on the 2024 Summer Olympics, which had been contested at Roland-Garros; she ended up with the bronze medal. Then, later final season, she was banned for a complete of 1 month after testing constructive for a banned substance; her clarification was accepted that the outcome was unintentional and brought on by a contaminated drugs.

In the quarterfinals, Swiatek will play No. 13 Elina Svitolina. Svitolina is three-time main semifinalist however 0-4 in earlier French Open quarterfinals.

Svitolina saved three match factors earlier Sunday to get previous 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 7-6 , 6-1. All of the highest eight ladies’s seeds reached the fourth spherical; No. 4 Paolini was the primary to exit.

Swiatek was nearly the following, however she pulled out the tight win.

Howard Fendrich has been the ’s tennis author since 2002. Find his tales right here: /writer/howard-fendrich. More tennis: /hub/tennis

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