Iga Swiatek has second-best Open Era winning record at French Open after 4R win
Iga Swiatek added another chapter to her increasingly impressive French Open resume after beating an ailing Lesia Tsurenko in the fourth round on Monday.
World No. 1 Swiatek, who's also the defending champion, surged to a 5-1 lead before Tsurenko called it quits shortly after taking a medical timeout. Swiatek burst to a 4-1 lead on Suzanne Lenglen before Tsurenko called for the physio and had her blood pressure checked.
Swiatek held serve again for 5-1 before Tsurenko called it quits. The win was Swiatek's 25th in 27 matches at Roland Garros, giving her a stunning win percentage of 92.6, just behind Margaret Court (95.2%) and ahead of Chris Evert (92.3%) in the Open Era.
92.6% - Only Margaret Court (95.2%) has now a highest winning ratio at the Roland Garros in the Open Era than Iga Swiatek (92.6%) - surpassing Chris Evert (92.3%). Park.
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Swiatek's first loss at the claycourt Major came on her debut in 2019, a 6-1, 6-0 mauling against Simona Halep in the fourth round. Her second loss came two years later when the 2020 champion lost in the quarterfinal to Maria Sakkari (6-4, 6-4). The 22-year-old won her second Roland Garros title last year and is looking good for a third in 2023.
"I have to rewatch that match" - Coco Gauff on her 2022 final with Iga Swiatek ahead of 2023 QF
Iga Swiatek will face Coco Gauff in the last eight - a rematch of the pair's 2022 final - at Roland Garros.
The Swiatek-Gauff clash will be the second time French Open finalists meet in the subsequent edition's quarterfinals. Chris Evert overcame Virginia Ruzici in the 1980 final and also won their 1981 quarterfinal clash.
Ahead of her last-eight clash with the defending champion, Gauff - who beat Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova in the fourth round - said that she will rewatch her 2022 title clash with Swiatek. The American said in her post-match press conference:
"From a scouting standpoint, I have to rewatch that match because I don't think I've played her on clay since, I've played her on other surfaces. I don't know if the surface will matter that much. So I will rewatch some previous matches to see where I've gone wrong."
Gauff added:
"But, yeah, I guess the revisiting part for like the mentality, yeah, I mean, it's in the past. You know, in a positive way, not like I lost in the final, I don't want to think about it. It's more so I don't want to make the final my biggest accomplishment, I guess. I want to keep moving forward and keep reaching further heights."
Iga Swiatek has won her last 11 matches at Roland Garros, so Gauff will have her task cut out.