0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, June 3, 2024
Two-time French Open defending champion Iga Swiatek showed her dominance on the clay major on Sunday as the top seed needed just 40 minutes to dispatch Anastasia Potapova in an overwhelming 6-0, 6-0 victory to power into the last eight.
The Polish world No. 1 swept 48 points - against 10 by Potapova - and did not face a single break point during the two sets.
It was the quickest win of Swiatek's career - and the second shortest completed match at Roland Garros after Steffi Graf's 32-minute triumph over Natasha Zvereva in the 1988 final.
"I was really focused and in the zone. I wasn't looking at the score so I continued working on my game," said Swiatek.
"It went pretty quickly... pretty weird," the 23-year-old added.
Next for Swiatek is Wimbledon reigning champion Marketa Vondrousova, the fifth seed who ended the run of Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic in straight sets.
US Open winner Coco Gauff also registered an easy win to move on as the third seed saw off world No. 51 Elisabetta Cocciaretto with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Cocciaretto defeated two top 20 stars to reach the last 16, but Gauff harnessed her experience in familiar territory to book a clash with No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur, who defeated Danish youngster Clara Tauson 6-4, 6-4.
The 20-year-old American, who finished as the runner-up in 2022, is going to play her fourth straight quarterfinal in Paris.
"This week I feel like I've been managing and playing well," Gauff said. "It's definitely, I feel, tough conditions to play in. It's just really slow and muggy. The weather makes you maybe not as hyped up for your match just naturally. This week at Roland Garros has been a little bit different than the past first weeks."
In the men's singles, Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year by sweeping past Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
"I'm really happy with my performance. I think I played a really high level of tennis," said Alcaraz, beaten by eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals last year.
"My game is getting better and better," he added. "My confidence is getting higher. Every practice that I'm doing or every day that I'm here in Roland Garros, I'm feeling better and better."
The two-time Grand Slam winner will next face Greek ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, whom he defeated at the same stage here last year. Alcaraz boasts a 5-0 career head-to-head record over Tsitsipas with three wins on clay.
The 2021 Roland Garros finalist, who is bidding to claim his first major title, came from behind to beat Italy's world No. 35 Matteo Arnaldi 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2 to secure a place in the last eight.
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov outplayed eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3) and will fight with second seed Jannik Sinner for a place in the semifinals.
The Australian Open champion Sinner withstood an early onslaught from home favorite Corentin Moutet to seal the spot in the quarterfinals.
