<
>

No. 1 Iga Swiatek starts French Open with straight-sets victory

PARIS -- Iga Swiatek began her bid for a third consecutive French Open title with a straightforward 6-1, 6-2 victory over Leolia Jeanjean on Monday, stretching her winning streak to 13 matches.

Swiatek, who has been ranked No. 1 for nearly every week since April 2022, put together an overwhelming 26-2 edge in winners and had just one brief blip at Court Philippe Chatrier in the 1-hour, 1-minute match: She was broken to trail 1-0 in the second set.

But after nine unforced errors in the initial two games of that set, Swiatek made only two the rest of the way en route to a 15th consecutive win at Roland Garros. Three of her four Grand Slam trophies came in Paris -- in 2020, 2022 and 2023. The last woman to win the championship at the clay-court major three straight times was Justine Henin in 2005-07.

"It feels like home here," said Swiatek, who will meet four-time major champ and former No. 1 Naomi Osaka next. "I'm really happy to be back. Just feel like I can play really good tennis, so hopefully I'm going to be here as long as possible."

In other early action Monday, Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova eliminated Rebeka Masarova 6-1, 6-3 and two-time major finalist Ons Jabeur beat Sachia Vickery of the U.S. 6-3, 6-2.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.