French Open: Iga Swiatek beats Zheng Qinwen to extend winning streak to 32 matches
- Published
Iga Swiatek has won her past 32 matches, leaving Venus and Serena Williams as the only WTA players to have accrued longer streaks this century
French Open 2022 |
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Dates: 22 May-5 June Venue: Roland Garros, Paris |
Coverage: Live text and radio commentaries of selected matches across BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website and app |
Top seed Iga Swiatek says singing to herself sparked the fightback that saw her beat China's Zheng Qinwen and reach the French Open quarter-finals.
Swiatek, who turns 21 on Tuesday, dropped her first set in 10 matches before earning a 6-7 (5-7) 6-0 6-2 win over world number 74 Zheng.
Zheng fought off five set points to win an absorbing opener but was then hampered by stomach and thigh problems.
Poland's 2020 champion now faces 11th seed Jessica Pegula of the USA.
"I was singing in my mind," said Swiatek.
"I realised in the first set when I was really focusing on that technical stuff it didn't really work.
"I got more and more tense when I couldn't do that and I couldn't really prepare to the shot the best way.
"It was Dua Lipa, so kind of a guilty pleasure."
Pegula also produced a comeback to beat Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 4-6 6-2 6-3 in her fourth-round match earlier on Monday.
The 28-year-old American is the highest seed left in the women's singles other than world number one Swiatek, who has only faced unseeded opponents so far.
After recently reaching a clay-court final in Madrid, Pegula has made the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the first time.
Now she faces the toughest task in tennis at the moment - stopping hot favourite Swiatek, on a 32-match winning streak, at the place where she won her maiden Grand Slam in 2020.
Swiatek likens losing set to 'a cold shower'
While Swiatek has not dropped a set on the Paris clay, she has shown signs of fallibility in her past two matches.
She struggled with her service games and her forehand continued to be errant as Zheng, a rising star making her French Open debut, brought out mistakes with her quality returning.
Zheng brilliantly fought back from 5-2 down in the first set, and from the same deficit in the tie-break, to threaten a stunning upset.
Afterwards she said the stomach pain was caused by her period, adding: "I wish I could be a man on court.
"It's just girls' things. I have to do sport and I always have so much pain in the first day. I couldn't go against my nature.
"The leg was tough but compared to the stomach that was easy."
Not since 23 April had Swiatek dropped a set, when she lost the opener against Russia's Liudmila Samsonova in their Stuttgart semi-final.
She managed to turn that match around, going on to win her next 18 sets, and started the fightback against Zheng with two breaks in the second set.
At the changeover, Zheng asked for treatment on her right thigh and reappeared with a lot of strapping.
That led to a one-sided set in which Zheng struggled to move across the baseline, and the Chinese player was broken again at the start of the decider.
Zheng's physical condition appeared to marginally improve in the third and allowed her to once again put pressure on Swiatek's serve.
Still lacking precision with her shots and gesturing her frustration after errors, the world number one needed to save two break points at 2-1 before winning the final three games to seal victory after almost three hours on court.
"I think it's important that I had this kind of match - it is kind of like a cold shower," said Swiatek.
"It reminded me how to find these solutions after losing a first set.
"I feel I'm going to take some positives from it. I think it's going to give me a lot before the next matches."
Who else is through?
Veronika Kudermetova was contesting her first ever fourth round match at a Grand Slam
Veronika Kudermetova came from behind to defeat Madison Keys and set up a French Open quarter-final against fellow Russian Daria Kasatkina.
Kudermetova, the 29th seed, beat American 22nd seed Keys 1-6 6-3 6-1 to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time.
World number 20 Kasatkina recorded a straight-set win over Camila Giorgi.
Kasatkina won 6-2 6-2 against Italy's 28th seed to reach her first quarter-final at Roland Garros since 2018.
The 25-year-old has been in ruthless form at Roland Garros and is yet to lose a set after four matches.
Compatriot Kudermetova, who beat injured third seed Paula Badosa in the previous round, recorded another fine victory in Paris as she battled back to overcome 2017 US Open finalist Keys on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Keys, an eight-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist, dominated the first set.
But an early break of serve was enough for Kudermetova, 25, to level the contest before the Russian secured victory in style with four successive breaks in the third.