“I didn’t have a chance” Iga Swiatek happy to lose a set as she advances into the quarter-finals of the 2022 French Open
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Iga Swiatek
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek makes it to the quarter-finals at the Stade Roland Garros for the third consecutive time as she defeats Qinwen Zheng 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2 in the fourth round of the 2022 French Open. Having won the Grand Slam in 2020, she made the quarter-finals last year and has matched the feat already with another dominant run.
Swiatek did have a small hiccup as she conceded the first set despite leading 5-2. With Qinwen coming through in the tiebreaker, it looked like an upset was brewing on the Phillipe-Chatrier but the Pole came all guns blazing in the second set to drop a bagel and then wrap up the match in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Iga lost a set last time on 23rd April during her semi-final win in the 2022 Stuttgart Open with this match being just the second time this clay season that she lost a set.
“I tried to loosen my hand a little bit and she played really good tennis with heavy top spins. The key in the second set was not letting her do it again so I’m pretty happy that I could play fast and put pressure on her. I feel actually a little bit better because I felt like I was a little bit in trouble and I was able to come back and really focus and find other solutions so that’s great.
“I didn’t have a chance to do that in previous matches because I was leading in the first sets and then I finished it right. So I tried to take some positives from the first set. It wasn’t the best that I lost from 5-2. But still, I was able to comeback in the second set and really lead the game again so I take that from the match,” said Iga during her press conference.
Tricky affair for Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals
With the win over Zheng, Iga will now take on 11th seed Jessica Pegula who also comes with a 3-set win in the fourth round over Irina Begu. Pegula and Swiatek will clash for the third time with the spoils shared in the previous two meetings and this will be their first claycourt meeting as the other two were on hardcourts.
The pair had met in the semi-finals of the 2022 Miami Open where Iga won the match and eventually the title. With only 3 defeats in the clay season this year for Jessica, she is a real threat for the Pole in their last-8 match.
Also Read: “I want payback,” Stefanos Tsitsipas issues stern warning to Alcaraz and Rune after French Open exit
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Sarthak Shitole
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