Iga Swiatek starts her quest for gold with straight sets win over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu at Paris Olympics

It took an hour and 45 minutes for the Pole to defeat Begu and clinch her 22nd straight win at the Roland Garros.

Iga Swiatek starts her quest for gold with straight sets win over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu at Paris Olympics

Iga Swiatek (Image via Imago)

Iga Swiatek started her Olympics campaign in a dominating fashion! The Pole, who is the first seed in the Paris Olympics, defeated Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 on the Roland Garros’ famous Philippe Chatrier Court on Saturday (July 27).

Swiatek dominated in the first set but faced some competition in the second as Begu leveled the scores. She survived a light scare as she recovered quickly to emerge victorious. It took an hour and 45 minutes for the Pole to defeat Begu and clinch her 22nd straight win at the Roland Garros.

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Swiatek is bidding to win her first Olympic medal. She is featuring in her second Olympics, having played in the Tokyo Games where she dealt with disappointing results.

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The five-time Grand Slam champion played singles and mixed doubles events. In singles, she was beaten by Spain’s Paula Badosa (who is not playing in the Paris Games), while in mixed doubles, Swiatek and her partner Lukasz Kubot lost the quarterfinals. Swiatek was set to feature in mixed doubles with Hubert Hurkacz but the injury he suffered during Wimbledon this year made it an impossible task as the World No.7, after failing to recover completely, was forced to withdraw from the Games.

The fact that the tennis matches at the Paris Olympics are held on clay courts has made Swiatek the top favorite. She has lifted the French Open title four times (thrice in a row since 2022). And if she wins the gold, it will be her fourth clay-court trophy of the year, having won the Madrid Open, Rome Open, and the French Open. The 23-year-old will either face Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska or France’s Diane Parry.

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Iga Swiatek’s head-to-head record against Nadia Podoroska and Diane Parry

Nadia Podoroska will lock horns with Diane Parry in their first-round match later during the day. As mentioned, the winner of the match will meet Iga Swiatek in the next round.

Iga Swiatek (2)
Iga Swiatek (Image via Imago)

Swiatek will be meeting Frenchwoman Parry for the first time if the latter reaches the second round. On the other hand, Swiatek has faced Argentina’s Podoroska just once. They locked horns in the semifinal of the 2020 Roland Garros which Swiatek won and later beat America’s Sofia Kenin in the final to win her first of the four French Open trophies.

Swiatek’s French Open final opponent Jasmine Paolini also progressed to the next round. After dealing with some hiccups in the first set, the 2024 Wimbledon finalist eliminated Romania’s Ana Bogdan in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 to secure herself the second-round berth.

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