Paris – Defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek joined No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round of the French Open on Friday, neither player has dropped the game so far.
Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, made his last semifinal at the French Open, beating Philippe-Chatrier 6-2, 6-3 and Olga Danilovic 6-2, 6-3, with the hot weather on Friday in stark contrast to the previous days.
“The ball flies faster,” Sabalenka said. “The bouncing is much higher.”
Swiatek won four of her five major titles at Roland-Garros, and he beat Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 7-5 on Suzanne-Lenglen, extending her French open winning streak to 23 games. But the second set lasted an hour, testing the 23-year-old Polish player in 16 minutes, who yelled after winning the second game.
“She took advantage of the opportunity and just worked hard for it,” Swiatek said. Swiatek enjoyed the temperature reaching 29 degrees. “Of course I don’t mind. On the clay, it brings extra bounce to the ball.”
Sabalenka and Swiatek had 20 winners and 21 unmandatory mistakes in the victory, their form and form are in contrast.
The 27-year-old Sabalenka has reached six singles finals this year, the woman who has entered Roland-Garros since Serena Williams in 2013.
But Swiatek hopes to reach her first final anywhere since winning the French Open for the third time last year and fourth place.
Swiatek hopes to be the first woman to win here four times in a row in the open era. Her first championship was in 2020. Her other major is at the US Open in 2022.
When asked who was under the biggest pressure to win this year’s French Open – she or Swiatek – Sabalenka joked: “Let’s leave it on the IGA because she won, is it three times in a row?”
Later Friday, men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz, defending Spain, was in action. No. 2 Alcaraz faces Damir Dzumhur, who hurts his left knee in a second round win.
What else happened to the French Open on Friday?
In other women’s matches, Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen defeated 18-year-old Victoria Mboko 6-3, 6-4, while 16th place Amanda Anisimova and Liudmila Samsonova also made progress.
In the men’s third round, Italy’s No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti beat Denmark’s No. 10 Mariano Navone, Denmark’s No. 10 Holger ran to Frenchman Quentin Halys, defeated Frenchman Quentin Halys in five sets, while American Tommy Paul of No. 12 seeds was outstanding in No. 24 Karen Khachanov, while Australia’s No. 25 Alexei Popyrin also made progress.
Who’s on Saturday’s schedule at Roland-Garros?
Novak Djokovic played football at a Saturday night meeting, which frustrated him as he hoped to play football earlier so he could watch the Champions League final in Germany between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter on TV.
The 24-time few champion recently won his 100th professional title and faces qualifying Phillip’s chaos. But if Djokovic wins quickly, he may be able to catch up with the end of the football final, which begins at 3 p.m. ET. Or maybe extra time.
In keeping the third round of men’s match, last year’s runner-up Alexander Zverev beat Flavio Cobolli on Philippe-Chatrier, while first-place Jannik Sinner beat Zverev in this year’s Australian Open final, defeating Jiri Lehecka on Suzanne-Lenglen. In court, Simonne Mathieu, Britain hopes Jack Draper plays the 18-year-old rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca. Following closely behind is Cameron Norrie vs. Jacob Fearnley, guaranteeing the fourth round of the British player.
In keeping the third round of women’s competition, former U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff played former Wimbledon champion Marketa Marketa Vondrousova on Philippe-Chatrier’s Marie Bouzkova and last year’s runner-up Jessica Pegula. Suzanne-Lenglen, currently the Australian Open champion, held an All-American match between current Australian Open champion Madison Keys and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, won the major in 2020, the year she lost to Swiatek at the French Open.
