Reigning champion motors into the fourth round without dropping a set
©Nicolas Gouhier / FFTIt's the kind of dominance that only legends of the sport have conjured up.
Defending champion Iga Swiatek is rapidly building her own legacy at Roland-Garros, with another ultra-dominant display to take out world No.80 Wang Xinyu 6-0, 6-0 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The 22-year-old will take on resurgent 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu or Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko in the last 16 on Monday.
In their first meeting Wang collected the first two points; that was the Chinese youngster's only lead on the scoreboard.
On the back foot, Swiatek twisted and blasted a forehand past Wang's reach en route to an opening hold.
Every short ball was punished; any tentative serve was punished; the top seed wasn't giving away anything.
An arrowed backhand down the line, followed by a flicked backhand lob snatched away an instant 2-0 advantage.
Measured, calculated play, it was all one way as Swiatek stormed 6-0 up in just 25 minutes.
The precision and timing was becoming even more efficient. The two-time Roland-Garros champion was at her bench, 3-0 up, after just seven more minutes of commanding play.
Wang, into the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, was pushing for a game at 4-0, deuce, on Swiatek's serve, however, the world No.1 wasn’t in a giving mood, drawing the 21-year-old side to side to remain unblemished across both sets.
The force of the top seed was particularly prevalent on return. The 22-year-old stepping in and dictating play from the off, winning 25 out of 33 receiving points.
21 winners, including five passing shots, highlight the attacking armory was in fine fettle too.
Through her three opening rounds, the Pole has surrendered just eight games, claiming a 6-0 'bagel' set in all three outings.
Having navigated past the world No.80, Swiatek still hasn’t lost to a player ranked outside the top 50 on clay since Arantxa Rus, ranked No.71, defeated the Pole in Rome in 2020.
Good day at the office: "It was a really solid performance from me. It's not easy to keep winning and keep your focus. I'm pretty happy I was so disciplined and took care of everything in my tennis."
Pressure on opponents: "I don't think if I played every point like a match point I'd be very good, match points are stressful. Honestly, every point is important for me, I think at the highest level every point matters.
"I know I need to use that skill later when I'm probably going to have tighter matches and really tight games."
Habit of posting 6-0 or 6-1 sets: "I always try to kind of be careful, because you don't want to get lazy after winning these matches. It's never easy to win these matches. But on the other hand, sometimes all your head can remember is the score, and I always want to kind of be ready for every situation.
"I don't feel like it's a problem for me, because I had many matches like that. But kind of also reset from all the other stuff and the expectations and just go to another match like it's a new one."
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
