French Open Day 5: Collins and Ostapenko fall as draw opens up for Swiatek
After yesterday’s shaky victory against Naomi Osaka, the stars continued to align for reigning Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek.
If the World No. 1 is to go all the way in Paris, it originally looked like she would need to get past opponents she’s previously struggled against.
Former French Open champion and current World No. 11 Jelena Ostapenko has never lost in her four meetings with Swiatek. The big-hitting Latvian won in three sets at Flushing Meadows last year and looked likely to face the Pole in the semi-finals.
Clara Tauson however had other ideas and as the rain flowed, the slip-ups followed. The 21-year-old Dane took a tense first-set tiebreak before the ninth seed fought back to win the second 6-3. Tauson broke to go 5-3 up before confidently serving the match out to love.
It was Peyton Stearns who beat Ostapenko at this stage last year, with the former champion still unable to recreate her previous success in Paris.
Danielle Collins, since announcing her imminent retirement at the beginning of the year, has gone on the best run of her career, winning her maiden WTAA 1000 in Miami earlier this year. The American has recently returned to the top 10 and entered the Parisian fray in classy form. The 11th seed however was beaten by World No. 125 Olga Danilovic who came from a set down to secure the biggest win of her career.
While Swiatek is unbeaten in their last five meetings, Collins is never shy of causing an upset and beat the Pole in Melbourne two years ago to progress to the final. While Collins was a possible quarter-final opponent, Swiatek’s tricky draw has become a whole lot simpler with these two players tripping up early.
While early slip-ups from the top players have not really happened, Swiatek will certainly have her eye on her two biggest title rivals, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka who coasted through today.
Rybakina stayed as cool as ever on Suzanne Lenglen to dispatch Dutch lefty Arantxa Rus 6-3 6-4. The towering Kazakh fired down eight aces and despite trailing 4-2 in the second set, upped her level to regain control and set up a third round match against the 25th seed, Belgium’s Elise Mertens.
Sabalenka similarly made light work of Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, dropping just four games to win 6-2 6-2. The powerful Belarusian remained in first gear and batted away a few moments of doubt to progress comfortably. She faces friend and rival Paula Badosa on Saturday just weeks after the Spaniard was forced to retire in the final set during their match in Stuttgart.
Rybakina and Sabalenka are predicted to meet in the semi-final and at 3-3 in their last six meetings, it looks set to be a real blockbuster. The Belarusian, having missed out twice to Swiatek in Madrid and Rome, will also be keen to stop that streak and get her hands on her second grand slam this year.
