Swiatek and Sabalenka reach French Open 4th round without dropping a set

PARIS (AP) — Defending women's champion Iga Swiatek joined No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round of the French Open on Friday and neither player has dropped a set so far.

Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam winner who has only once reached the semifinals at the French Open, beat Olga Danilovic 6-2, 6-3 on Court Philippe-Chatrier, where Friday's hot weather contrasted with previous days.

"The ball flies much faster," Sabalenka said. "The bounces are much higher."

Swiatek, who has won four of her five major titles at Roland-Garros, defeated Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 7-5 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to extend her French Open winning streak to 23 matches. But a second set lasting 1 hour, 16 minutes tested the 23-year-old Polish player, who yelled in relief after winning on her second match point.

"She used her chances and just went for it," said Swiatek, who enjoyed temperatures which reached 29 degrees Celsius (84 Fahrenheit). "For sure I don't mind. On clay it gives the balls the extra bounce."

Sabalenka and Swiatek, who had 20 winners and 21 unforced errors in her win, have been in contrasting form.

The 27-year-old Sabalenka has reached six singles finals this year, the most for a woman entering Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2013.

But Swiatek is looking to reach her first final anywhere since winning her third straight French Open title, and fourth overall, here last year.

Swiatek is looking to become the first woman to win here four successive times in the Open era. Her first title came in 2020. Her other major was in 2022 at the U.S. Open.

Asked who was under the most pressure to win this year's French Open — her or Swiatek — Sabalenka said, jokingly: "Let's just leave it on Iga since she won it, what, three times in a row?"

Defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain was in action later Friday. The No. 2-ranked Alcaraz faced Damir Dzumhur, who hurt his left knee during a fall in his second-round win.

What else happened at the French Open on Friday?

No. 4-seeded Jasmine Paolini, last year's runner-up, beat Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-4, 6-1, and No. 12 Elena Rybakina won against 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen beat 18-year-old Canadian qualifier Victoria Mboko 6-3, 6-4, while No. 16 Amanda Anisimova and Liudmila Samsonova also advanced.

In men's third-round play, No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy beat Mariano Navone, No. 10 Holger Rune of Denmark beat Frenchman Quentin Halys in five sets, and 12th-seeded American Tommy Paul did the same against No. 24 Karen Khachanov.

No. 15 Frances Tiafoe beat No. 23 Sebastian Korda 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-4 in an all-American matchup, joining Paul and No. 13 Ben Shelton to give the U.S. three men in the French Open fourth round for the first time since 1995.

If qualifier Ethan Quinn wins on Saturday, there would be four American men in Week 2 in Paris for the first time since 1991. Shelton won against Matteo Gigante 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

No. 25 Alexei Popyrin of Australia also advanced.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis