Swiatek beats Cristian to reach fourth round in Paris

Defending champion Iga Swiatek moved one step closer to a fourth straight Roland Garros title with a 6-2 7-5 win over Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian on Court Suzanne Lenglen Friday.

Swiatek, a four-time Roland Garros champion in the past five years, was dominant early. She needed just 35 minutes to wrap up the opening set, never facing a break point and securing two breaks of serve. It was the kind of clinical performance that has become her trademark on Parisian clay.

But the world No. 60 Cristian wasn’t going down without a fight. The Romanian raised her level in the second set, pushing the fifth seed into longer rallies and testing her resolve. Swiatek remained unbroken throughout the match, but not without a challenge—she faced six break points in the second set.

At 5-5, the set crossed the one-hour mark, highlighting the intensity of the battle. Swiatek, as she so often does, found her best tennis in the most crucial moments, winning the next two games to book her place in the fourth round.

There, she awaits a showdown with a fellow Grand Slam champion, Elena Rybakina, who won Wimbledon in 2022. On Friday afternoon, the 12th-seeded Rybakina cruised past 2017 Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-2.

Earlier in the day, top seed Aryna Sabalenka also advanced to the last 16, as did Zheng Qinwen, last year’s Olympic gold medalist here in Paris.