Iga Swiatek knows the grounds of Roland Garros very well, but even the four-time French Open champion had to battle to a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu to reach the second round of the rain-lashed Olympics tennis tournament on July 27.
The world No. 1 Polish star was not affected by the adverse weather as she had the advantage of playing under the roof of Court Philippe-Chatrier due to her status. It is a venue where she plays her best tennis, as she clinched her 22nd straight win on the Paris clay and her 20th victory in a row on the surface.
But the 23-year-old admitted that she had to struggle a fair bit to get through the match. “My level was a bit fluctuating and there was more tension than usual,” Swiatek told Polish media.
Swiatek said “The first rounds are never easy, so in a sense I’m giving myself credit to get into the right rhythm (in the end). I made a lot of mistakes, but the most important thing is that in the last three games I improved my level and concentration and I won in two sets.”
There is plenty to improve after she hit more unforced errors than winners (30 to 22) in her 1hr 45min victory. After two breaks in a comfortable first set, the top seed had to retrieve a break in the second set to get to 5-5 before sweeping the next two games and securing victory when Begu double faulted.
Swiatek, who only reached the second round on her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021, will face either Diane Parry of France or Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska for a place in the last 16.
