PARIS: World number one Iga Swiatek can stretch her winning run to 30 matches by securing a place in the French Open third round on Thursday.
The Polish star is the overwhelming favourite to win a second Roland Garros title to add to her 2020 victory.
A win over Alison Riske of the United States will extend an undefeated streak which has guaranteed five successive titles.
In her opening round in Paris, Swiatek needed just 54 minutes to see off Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-0.
She is unbeaten since February and has the longest winning streak on the WTA tour since Serena Williams won 34 matches in a row in 2013.
“I’m pretty sure that it can end, but I just want to keep going. I’m sure someday my streak will stop,” she said.
“I’m just focusing on tennis and playing my game, not on stats or some numbers.”
Swiatek has defeated Riske on both occasions they have met in Rome and Madrid on clay last year.
Paula Badosa, seeded three and expected to be Swiatek’s semi-final opponent, was equally impressive in her opener against Fiona Ferro, also dropping just two games.
The Spaniard, a French Open quarter-finalist last year, will play Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan on Thursday.
Daniil Medvedev, the second seed, faces Serbia’s Laslo Djere who stunned the Russian on clay in their only meeting at Budapest five years ago.
That was courtesy of an injury retirement and Medvedev, gradually finding his feet on clay after making the last eight in Paris in 2021, should be favourite against the 56th-ranked Djere who has made the third round on two occasions.
However, Djere’s two career titles have both come on clay in Rio in 2019 and Sardinia in 2020.
“I love Roland Garros, especially since last year,” said Medvedev, who had lost in the opening round on his first four trips to Paris before reaching the quarter-finals in 2021.
“I hope this year I can go further.”
In his first round win on Tuesday, the 26-year-old Medvedev hammered 35 winners past Argentine qualifier Facundo Bagnis.
Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic last year, had to come back from two sets down to defeat Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in a first round tie which ended in the early hours of Wednesday.
“Leave your soul there and Valhalla will be waiting for you,” Tsitsipas wrote.
Tsitsipas faces Czech qualifier Zdenek Kolar, the world number 154 who won his first ever Grand Slam main draw match on Tuesday against French wildcard Lucas Pouille.
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