French Open 2024: Iga Swiatek gives herself birthday present advancing to round 4

The World No.1, Iga Swiatek met Marie Bouzkova for the first time and proceeded comfortably to the next round

Iga Swiatek is now in the Round of 16 at the French Open

Swiatek raced ahead in the first set, breaking Bouzkova early, but the latter did not give her the satisfaction of serving out for the set at 5-2. Instead, she broke the World No.1 and then held on to her serve, taking the score to 5-4 with Swiatek serving for the set yet again. Bouzkova tried to stall it, but eventually, Swiatek held on to her serve and the first set at 6-4.

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The second set then began with Swiatek determined to close out the match quickly, breaking Bouzkova, twice consecutively, while holding her serve and racing to a 4-0 lead. But Bouzkova was not ready to cave in so easily, holding her serve twice over the next three games. 5-2 and Swiatek was serving for the match; could Bouzkova delay/deny the World No.1 the satisfaction of a straight set win? Well, she went ahead and bravely fought off 3 match points, but Swiatek converted the fourth, in a match lasting an hour and 33 minutes.

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Bouzkova’s route to this encounter with Swiatek came after defeating Veronica Kudermetova (6-2 6-4) and Jana Fett (6-2 6-2) in the first and second round respectively. Swiatek, on the other hand, had a bit of a scare in her second-round match against Naomi Osaka, in a hard-fought three-set match that almost swung in favour of the latter. The third-round match at the French Open 2024 was the first head-to-head match between Swiatek and Bouzkova and the latter’s first time at this stage of the tournament, her previous best a second-round outing in 2022.

Three-time French Open champion at all of 23 is aiming for her fourth title in Roland Garros. Swiatek’s round 4 opponent is yet to be determined. She will play her next match on June 2.

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