Iga Witek sets record for 25th consecutive French Open win with hard-fought comeback against Elena Rybakina
Iga Witek won 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 to win by a set and a break at the French Open over Elena Rybakina. Three-time defending champion Witek has now recorded 25 consecutive main draw wins at Roland-Garros, the only woman with more than 29 in the Chris Evert Open era.She was made to work hard for it against former world No. 3 Rybakina, who battled hard to cause a huge upset on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Having raced into a 5-0 lead before wrapping up the opening set in just 35 minutes, Rybakina won the first eight points of the second set to put her in full control of the fourth-round contest.
But Świątek rallied in the second part of the match, edging out Rybakina in a tight deciding set to continue her hunt for a sixth grand slam title and fifth at the French Open.“I was feeling pretty bad (at the start of the match), so I was kind of accepting that I can lose it,” Świątek later told reporters. “But it didn’t change the fact that I wanted to fight for it anyway.”
The world No. 5 will next play 13th seed Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals after the Ukrainian beat last year’s runner-up Jasmine Paolini on Sunday.
