Queen of Clay Iga Swiatek provides masterful start as Ons Jabeur also shines at Roland Garros

WTA
Monday, 27 May 2024 at 15:12
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Iga Swiatek is the first woman to win 15 consecutive matches at the French Open since Justine Henin who won 24 consecutive between 2005-10 after a successful opening foray against Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2.

It was pretty comprehensive and a lesson sent to the rest of the field for Swiatek who will aim to become a four-time champion at the French Open. She hit 26 winners against 18 unforced errors in just over an hour breaking her opponent five times.

Jeanjean showed nerves in her press conference about playing Swiatek and it sure wasn't anything like the Frenchwoman's previous good displays at Roland Garros as she was outplayed by the World No.1.

Now she will face off against Iga Swiatek in a second round clash to savour. They will play Wednesday. They are both four-time Grand Slam champions. Swiatek has been World No.1 since winning the WTA Finals last November and is coming off back-to-back victories in Madrid and Rome. She is coming off the back of 13 straight clay court wins and is the favourite to win her third straight title at Roland Garros.

Osaka on the other hand is months into her comeback. She is ranked No.134 and is making strides but as much as she would want, she is not up with the top names yet. She saw off Daria Kasatkina earlier this clay court season in a show of the prowess she can possess on this surface and hasn't done as of yet.

Poor form this season but Jabeur provides masterclass

With very minimal action, Ons Jabeur eased past Sachia Vickery in one hour and 21 minutes in one of the other show court ties. It was a 6-3, 6-2 win over the wildcard. She is coming into Paris after a pretty torrid season.

She has a record of just six wins and nine losses this season. A Quarter-Final run in Madrid provided the potential tonic, but she soon lost to Sofia Kenin early in Rome. Albeit the American who moved through yesterday is starting to gather steam again. Under the Suzanne-Lenglen roof, it was a quick start in both sets from Jabeur who took her serve twice and was able to keep Vickery at arms length. In particular, her drop shot was superb and was used to really inflict damage.

Next up is either Anhelina Kalinina or Camila Osorio. Both of which she has a 2-0 record against. Watching on was her coach, Fernando Verdasco. Still a strange sentence, but certainly someone who knows how to capture clay court magic. Can she do that this week.

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