Swiatek eliminates Cristian and keeps her title hopes alive at Roland-Garros
The three-time defending champion is still in the race at Roland-Garros. After her victories against Sramkova and Raducanu, the Polish player, ranked 5th in the world, faced Jaqueline Cristian in an attempt to reach the round of 16. The two players had never faced each other before, and the Romanian seized her opportunity in the match, especially in the second set.
Swiatek got off to a good start and wrapped up the first set in 35 minutes, thanks to her consistency in exchanges (only 6 unforced errors). However, the second set was much more balanced.
Cristian played with freedom, forcing Swiatek to work on her service games. Nevertheless, the world's 60th player lacked efficiency, failing to convert any of her seven break points throughout the match.
The four-time tournament winner had just as many opportunities to take her opponent's service, securing three breaks. Despite having game points, Cristian eventually succumbed despite a good quality second set on her part (12 winners, 19 unforced errors).
In the end, Swiatek won 6-2, 7-5 in 1 hour and 53 minutes, reaching the round of 16 for the seventh time in as many participations at this Parisian tournament. For a place in the quarterfinals, she will face either Elena Rybakina or her nemesis Jelena Ostapenko.
As a reminder, the Latvian leads 6 wins to 0 against Swiatek and dominated the latter in Stuttgart, on clay, earlier in the season. But the 2017 edition winner must first overcome the Kazakh, who is on the rise this season and recently won the tournament in Strasbourg.
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