World No.1 Iga Swiatek needed only 54 minutes to extend her winning streak to 29 matches and book her place in the second round of Roland Garros

PARIS -- World No.1 Iga Swiatek opened her Roland Garros campaign in dominating fashion Monday with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko. The victory extends Swiatek's winning streak to 29 matches, the longest run on the Hologic WTA Tour since 2013.

"I just want to keep going," Swiatek said on court. "I'm aware that someday my streak may stop. Basically, I'm just working every day to be focused on my tennis, not on stats or numbers. Just playing tennis and focusing on my game and being in a bubble. That's going to help me be consistent. That's what I've been doing the past weeks and I'm going to continue doing that here."

Inside the rise of Iga Swiatek: Blistering forehands and unmatched aggression

Swiatek is now 12-1 in her career in the opening round of majors. Her 92.3% winning percentage in the first round of Slams is second to only Serena Williams' tour-leading mark of 97.5% among active players. The 20-year-old will face Alison Riske in the second round. The American defeated Dayana Yastremska 6-3, 6-3 for her first win at Roland Garros since 2014.

A champion in Paris in 2020, Swiatek picked up where she left off after winning her fifth consecutive title last week in Rome. She fired 20 winners to 13 unforced errors in the match and limited Tsurenko to only three winners. Swiatek closed out the win in 54 minutes.

Bianca Andreescu joined Swiatek in the second round after engineering a comeback from a set and a break down to defeat Belgian qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

"The match was definitely all over the place for me," Andreescu said. "I feel my nerves at the beginning got the best of me. I was pretty nervous coming into the match. I really wanted to do well at controlling that. I think I did well, but maybe my tennis wasn't there as I would like it. But also, she played amazing tennis. She really executed the right tactics."

Down a set and 3-1, Andreescu reassessed her tactics and began to increase the baseline pressure on Bonaventure. The decision paid off, as she broke back immediately and settled herself from there.

"At one point I just said, 'F it', and I started going for more because I feel that was the only thing I could do," Andreescu said. "But when I really stayed committed to putting more pressure, that's when I feel like she also lost her cool, and I just kept increasing my level."

Andreescu came into the match after a strong run of form at the WTA 1000s. In Madrid, she made the Round of 16, and in Rome, she lost in the quarterfinals to Swiatek. The Canadian is playing in her fourth Roland Garros main draw, and her win against Bonaventure is just her second in Paris. The last time Andreescu prevailed here was in 2019, when she battled through a three-setter to eliminate Marie Bouzkova.

Andreescu's win sets up a showdown with No.14 seed Belinda Bencic, a rematch of the 2019 US Open semifinal. There, in their first and only meeting, Andreescu won 7-6, 7-5 en route to winning the title.

Source: WTA Tennis

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