On a windy afternoon on Philippe Chatrier’s court, the Polish player, who was attempting to win his third French Open title in four years, got off to a sluggish start.
Iga Swiatek, the current world number one, sent off her French Open title defense on Tuesday by advancing through Cristina Bucsa of Spain 6-4 6-0.
On a windy afternoon on Philippe Chatrier’s court, the Polish player, who was attempting to win his third French Open title in four years, got off to a sluggish start.
At the Australian Open this year, Swiatek defeated the Spaniard in less than an hour, dropping just one game.
However, Swiatek had a less-than-perfect run-up to Paris, retiring from her quarterfinal match at the Italian Open two weeks earlier due to a thigh injury.
The 21-year-old triple Grand Slam champion was broken twice in her first three service games, but determined 70th-ranked Bucsa mixed it up and initially succeeded in disorienting her opponent.
Swiatek stated, “I just felt more tense, for sure.” In any case, I figured out how to turn that around and not ponder all the stuff that is typically annoying when you play your most memorable match.”
You have to get accustomed to the surroundings, and you start to hear more. I just felt like I needed to learn more to play more firmly. So I did.
The top seed took note of the early alarm and returned to the set’s main end, breaking back to win.
The Shaft started her 61st week at the highest point of the WTA rankings and is number one in Paris.
Grabbed one more break toward the beginning of the second set with a roaring crosscourt forehand victor and never thought back.
She made up for her first-set stumble with a bagel as she tries to win the French Open in 2020 and 2022 and keep her top spot from the second-ranked player in the world, Aryna Sabalenka.
Swiatek, who turns 22 on Wednesday, added, “Obviously I feel pressure, and we perceive pressure as a collective.
If I said I didn’t, I’d be lying. I make an effort to manage it and carry on with my game. Adapting to it at the moment is the key to tennis.