Roland-Garros: Swiatek drops a set but wins his 32nd game in a row and goes into the quarters

Swiatek remained on a series of 20 sets won in a row: she had not lost a single set since April 23 in the semi-finals in Stuttgart.

With this victory, the 20-year-old Polish nevertheless wins her 32nd success in a row, which makes her the third player to chain the most victories in the 21st century behind the Williams sisters (Venus 35, Serena 34) and to tied with Justine Henin.

The Polish Iga Swiatek, during her victory against the Chinese Qinwen Zheng, 6-7 (7/5), 6-0, 6-2, in the round of 16 of the Roland-Garros tournament, May 30, 2022 Christophe ARCHAMBAULT AFP

Zheng, who is taking part in his very first Roland-Garros at 19, however gave the winner of the Porte d'Auteuil tournament in 2020 a hard time.

Leading 3-0 in the first set, Swiatek saw the Chinese recover at 5-5 then forcing her to play a tie break after 5 unconverted set points.

The Chinese Qinwen Zheng, during the round of 16 of the Roland-Garros tournament against the Polish Iga Swiatek, May 30, 2022 Christophe ARCHAMBAULT AFP

And in the decisive game, once again overtaken by the world N.1 (5-2), Zheng chained 5 rank points to win after 1h22, a longer duration than most of the last matches. contested by the world N.1.

But then the Swiatek steamroller got going again, while her opponent, visibly physically blunted, had to call a medical time-out at 3-0 against her in the second set.

China's Qinwen Zheng has her back massaged during a medical timeout, during her round of 16 match against Poland's Iga Swiatek, on May 30, 2022 at the Roland-Garros tournament JULIEN DE ROSA AFP

Returning with her right thigh largely bandaged, Zheng did not win a single game until the 3rd of the third set.

After getting rid of her bandage which seemed to bother her, she recovered a little but not enough to worry Swiatek again, who won after 2h45 of the match.

"I'm really happy to have managed to get back into the game after a particularly frustrating first set", said the Pole after her victory, paying tribute to her opponent: "She played incredible tennis, I was really surprised by some of his shots. So I'm really happy to still be in the tournament."

In the next round, Swiatek will meet American Jessica Pegula, 11th in the world and second highest ranked player still in the tournament after her.

© 2022 AFP