French Open: Swiatek and Sabalenka reach fourth round without dropping a set
Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — Defending women's champion Iga Swiatek joined No.1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round of the French Open on Friday and neither player has dropped a set so far.
Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam winner who has only once reached the semifinals at the French Open, beat Olga Danilovic 6-2, 6-3 on Court Philippe-Chatrier, where Friday's hot weather contrasted with previous days.
'The ball flies much faster,' Sabalenka said. 'The bounces are much higher.'
Swiatek, who has won four of her five major titles at Roland-Garros, defeated Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 7-5 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to extend her French Open winning streak to 23 matches. But a second set lasting 1 hour, 16 minutes tested the 23-year-old Polish player, who yelled in relief after winning on her second match point.
'She used her chances and just went for it,' said Swiatek, who enjoyed temperatures which reached 29 degrees Celsius (84 Fahrenheit). 'For sure I don't mind. On clay it gives the balls the extra bounce.'
Sabalenka and Swiatek, who had 20 winners and 21 unforced errors in her win, have been in contrasting form.
The 27-year-old Sabalenka has reached six singles finals this year, the most for a woman entering Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2013.
But Swiatek is looking to reach her first final anywhere since winning her third straight French Open title, and fourth overall, here last year.
Swiatek is looking to become the first woman to win here four successive times in the Open era. Her first title came in 2020. Her other major was in 2022 at the U.S. Open.
Asked who was under the most pressure to win this year's French Open — her or Swiatek — Sabalenka said, jokingly: 'Let's just leave it on Iga since she won it, what, three times in a row?'
Defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain was in action later Friday. The No.2-ranked Alcaraz faced Damir Dzumhur, who hurt his left knee during a fall in his second-round win. What else happened at the French Open on Friday?
In other women's play, Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen beat 18-year-old qualifier Victoria Mboko 6-3, 6-4, while No. 16 Amanda Anisimova and Liudmila Samsonova also advanced.
In men's third-round play, No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy beat Mariano Navone, No. 10 Holger Rune of Denmark beat Frenchman Quentin Halys in five sets and 12th-seeded American Tommy Paul did the same against No. 24 Karen Khachanov, while No. 25 Alexei Popyrin of Australia also advanced. Who is on the schedule at Roland-Garros on Saturday?
Novak Djokovic plays in the night session Saturday, much to his frustration as he had hoped to play earlier so he could watch the Champions League final in Germany between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan on TV.
The 24-time major winner, who recently won his 100th career title, faces qualifier Filip Misolic. If Djokovic wins quickly, though, he may be able to catch the end of the soccer final, which starts at 1900 GMT (3 p.m. ET). Or possibly extra time.
In remaining third-round men's play, Alexander Zverev — last year's runner-up — takes on Flavio Cobolli on Court Philippe-Chatrier, while No. 1 Jannik Sinner — who beat Zverev in this year's Australian Open final — faces Jiri Lehecka on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Over on Court Simonne-Mathieu, British hope Jack Draper plays 18-year-old rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca. They are followed by Cameron Norrie vs. Jacob Fearnley, guaranteeing a British player in the fourth round.
In remaining third-round women's play, former U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff faces Marie Bouzkova on Court Philippe-Chatrier, and No. 3 Jessica Pegula, the runner-up at last year's U.S. Open, plays former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova earlier on the same court. There is an all-American contest on Court Suzanne-Lenglen between current Australian Open champion Madison Keys and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who won that major in 2020, the year she went on to lose in the French Open final to Swiatek.
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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