Paris, May 27 (IANS) Four-time former winner Iga Swiatek moved into the women’s singles third round at the French Open on Wednesday. with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Sara Bejlek in a match in which she held the upper hand throughout.

Swiatek overcame an uneven serving performance and 38 unforced errors to beat Bejlek and move to the third round, setting up a possible meeting against Jelena Ostapenko.

In their second round clash, the first set alone lasted 46 minutes. The No. 3-seeded Swiatek was broken twice. The former World No.1, who won the French Open in 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024, landed just 37 percent of her first serves.

In the second set, the opening game dragged close to 10 minutes by itself, and by the time Swiatek finally held for 1-0, the pair had already crossed the one-hour mark.

In the end, though, Swiatek still found more than enough answers. It was hardly spotless — she finished with 38 unforced errors against 17 winners — but she also broke the No. 35-ranked Bejlek seven times and won eight of 11 points at the net in the 1-hour, 31-minute victory.

The 24-year-old from Poland has now reached the third round at all 24 Grand Slam events played this decade. In the Open Era, only Novak Djokovic produced a longer streak to start a decade, reaching the third round at the first 25 majors of the 2010s.

Swiatek is scheduled to face either fellow Polish player Magda Linette or Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 Roland Garros champion.

And while Ostapenko’s breakthrough title came in Paris nearly a decade ago, the number more recently attached to this potential matchup is the head-to-head record: She is 6-0 against Swiatek, including a clay-court win in Stuttgart last year.

–IANS

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