Iga Swiatek secured her place in the third round of the French Open on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over world number 35 Sara Bejlek. The four-time Roland Garros champion is aiming to regain the title she won three times consecutively between 2022 and 2024, before losing in the semifinals to top seed Aryna Sabalenka last season.
Preparation with Rafael Nadal's Former Coach
Swiatek, 24, has recently teamed up with Francisco Roig, the former coach of Rafael Nadal, and has been preparing for the clay-court Grand Slam at the Spanish great's tennis academy in Mallorca. "I spent a week in Mallorca, which is amazing, because starting the clay-court season there gave me a lot of motivation," Swiatek said on court.
A Tough Challenge Against Bejlek
After a comfortable opening win in Paris against Australian wildcard Emerson Jones, the Polish star faced a sterner test in the round of 64 against Abu Dhabi winner Sara Bejlek. "She has a tricky style of game ... she mixes up the rhythm quite well," Swiatek added of her 20-year-old opponent, whom she played for the first time.
With a slight blustering wind creeping across center court, which the sun-drenched spectators appreciated, both players struggled on serve initially, with three consecutive breaks in the early exchanges. Swiatek then appeared to gain the upper hand from the baseline, but Bejlek battled to stay with the former world number one and saved a set point to break back to 5-2, with Swiatek finishing that game with back-to-back double faults. However, the Czech's own service problems resurfaced as Swiatek broke for the fourth time to claim the opener.
Dominant Second Set
Swiatek held serve to win a mammoth opening game in the second set as both women found their range with groundstrokes. But Swiatek proved more powerful, breaking in the next game before moving through the rest of the set to book her last-32 berth, despite dropping serve twice.
In the third round, Swiatek will face either fellow former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko or compatriot Magda Linette.
