Iga Swiatek beats Emma Raducanu to extend her bid for a 4th straight French Open title

PARIS — Iga Swiatek is always quite good against Emma Raducanu. Always quite good at the French Open, too, of course.

So it made sense that the latest matchup between these two Grand Slam champions, which came in the second round at Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday, would end up with Swiatek on the right side of a 6-1, 6-2 result.

“I felt good on court, so I could do whatever I planned to, whatever I wanted to,” said Swiatek, who improved to 5-0 against Raducanu and ran her winning streak in the clay-court Grand Slam tournament to 23 matches.

“This place inspires me,” Swiatek said, “and makes me work harder.”

Truth be told, she was not made to work all that hard during this encounter, which lasted only 1 hour, 19 minutes in what Swiatek described as “tricky” wind.

The 23-year-old from Poland was in fine form against 2021 U.S. Open champion Raducanu, putting together a whopping 32-8 edge in winners and saving all four break points she faced while taking all eight of her service games.

This follows a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Raducanu at the Australian Open this January and now means that Swiatek has won all 10 sets the two have played against each other.

Swiatek, who agreed to accept a one-month suspension in a doping case late last year, owns a total of five major trophies, including one at the U.S. Open.

But it’s been a bit of a rough stretch for Swiatek by her lofty standards. She hasn’t been as far as a final at any tournament since winning the championship at last year’s French Open.

That title was her fourth in Paris and third in a row. Swiatek is aiming to become the only woman with four consecutive trophies at the French Open in the Open era, which began in 1968. Monica Seles and Justine Henin both also won three straight.

Swiatek’s aura of invincibility on clay was pierced a bit when she wound up losing in the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which were contested at Roland-Garros, and she went home with a bronze medal.

Her recent showings on the clay-court circuit included ceding sets by scores of 6-0 and 6-1 — the sort of lopsided outcomes Swiatek is usually on the right side of — and losses in her second matches at both Stuttgart and Rome.

Add it all up, and she arrived in Paris ranked only No. 5, her first time outside the top two in about three years.