Tennis

Iga Swiatek, Daniil Medvedev reach last 16 of French Open 2022

Sentinel Digital Desk

Paris: Top ranked Iga Swiatek ran into a spot of bother as she beat Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-3, 7-5 to reach the fourth round of the French Open and extend her winning streak to 31 matches on Saturday.

The Polish player, who is unbeaten since last February, has also won 46 of her last 47 sets after claiming titles on claycourt in Stuttgart and Rome.

The 2020 champion is bidding to become the fourth player since 2000 to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup multiple times after Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova.

The 20-year-old is on the longest unbeaten run in the women's tour since Serena Williams bagged 34 victories in succession in 2013.

"I wanted to play aggressively but maybe putting too much power and her balls were so powerful so it was tough to handle at full speed. I had to take fewer risks but she did a great job defending," said Swiatek, who will next face either France's Alize Cornet or Chinese Zheng Qinwen.

"She was serving with precision so it was tricky to see where she was going to serve but I have played heavy hitters before, although it was a bit hard to adjust at the beginning."

Second seed Daniil Medvedev cruised past Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory in less than two hours to advance to the fourth round.

The US Open champion, who reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year after four consecutive first-round exits, played near flawless service games throughout to give his opponent, ranked 31st in the world, no real chance.

"It was magnificent today. I did not have my serve broken," Medvedev, runner-up at the Australian Open this season, said in an on-court interview. "On this surface it is quite unusual. Hopefully there are more such matches for me next week.

"Like in my French, I try to do better in my tennis all the time. The better I learn French the better my tennis will become."

Italian 11th seed Jannik Sinner saved 11 set points in the second set before beating wasteful American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.

Sinner had his back to the wall at 5-2 down in the second set but kept his composure as the world number 60 squandered chance after chance to clinch it.

In other women's third round matches Irina-Camelia Begu beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-4, 20th seed Daria Kasatkina beat Shelby Rogers 6-3,6-2, Qinwen Zheng got walk over against Alize Cornet while leading 6-0, 3-0.

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