admin Four-time champion Iga Swiatek eased into the French Open fourth round with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Magda Linette in an all-Polish clash on Friday.
Third seed Swiatek dug herself out of an early 2-0 hole against the 35th-ranked Linette, who won their most recent meeting at Miami in March.
Swiatek broke three times in the opening set to nose ahead, and then surged into a 4-1 lead in the second set.
She overcame a stumble as she tried to close it out, before sealing victory to set up an intriguing match-up with the in-form Marta Kostyuk.
“It was a good match. I played much better than Miami,” said Swiatek, who moved to appoint Francisco Roig, a longtime coach of Rafael Nadal, in the wake of her loss to Linette two months ago.
Poland’s Magda Linette plays a backhand return.
Kostyuk, the 15th seed, continued her fine run with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic.
She is unbeaten in 15 matches on clay this season following titles in Madrid and Rouen.
“Marta is having a great season. She always had a game to play well,” said Swiatek.
“So good for her. But I’m going to focus on myself, prepare tactically, as before any other match, and we’ll see.”
Swiatek, however, has won in straight sets all three times she has played Kostyuk and has experience on her side in Paris, holding a 43-3 record overall at Roland Garros.
Kostyuk previously reached the fourth round in Paris in 2021, when she lost to Swiatek.
“I’m still the person who lost to her three times, and she’s won this tournament four times,” Kostyuk said. “I would love to be the one who is a favorite in this match, but I still don’t think it’s the case, even though I have this really long streak.”
Also advancing to the fourth round was 36-year-old Sorana Cirstea, who routed Solana Sierra and became the oldest player in the Open Era to claim a 6-0 6-0 win in a Grand Slam tournament. She will next face Wang Xiyu of China, who beat Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-3, 7-5. The Chinese qualifier has still not dropped a set in her campaign.
Iga Swiatek (right) and Magda Linette embrace after their third round match. Reuters
Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva swept into the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Czech 27th seed Marie Bouzkova.
The eighth-seeded Andreeva goes on to face either 2023 French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova or Jil Teichmann on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals.
Andreeva’s best Grand Slam run came at Roland Garros in 2024 when she reached the semi-finals.
In men’s action, Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta reached the fourth round at a major for the first time since the 2022 US Open by defeating Argentina’s Thiago Tirante 7-6 (0), 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
Russian Andrey Rublev battled into the French Open last 16 for the second straight year as the 11th seed sealed a 7-5 7-6(2) 7-6(2) win over Portugal’s Nuno Borges on a warm Friday morning.
He is among several players looking for their maiden Grand Slam title after the men’s draw was blown wide open following top seed Jannik Sinner’s loss on Thursday.
The twice Paris quarter-finalist, who has never gone past that stage at any of the four Grand Slams, ran into stiff resistance in the opening two sets against Borges.
Agencies
