Iga Swiatek defeated Sara Bejlek 6-2, 6-3 to reach the third round at Roland Garros 2026. Swiatek will now face fellow Pole Magda Linette after Linette stunned Jelena Ostapenko in the second round.
French Open: Iga Swiatek reaches third round; likely to run into Ostapenko next (Credit: X/Roland Garros)
Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek battled past Sara Bejlek 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday to book her place in the third round at Roland Garros, overcoming a shaky serving display and a flood of unforced errors to keep her title defence alive.
The world No. 3 endured a far-from-perfect afternoon on Court Philippe-Chatrier, landing just 37 percent of her first serves and committing 38 unforced errors across the match. But even on an off day, Swiatek’s relentless pressure and big-match composure proved too much for the Czech youngster.
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Their second-round clash was anything but straightforward. The opening set alone stretched to 46 minutes, with Bejlek breaking Swiatek twice and forcing the four-time champion into long, gruelling rallies from the baseline.
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The intensity carried into the second set, where the opening game lasted nearly 10 minutes. By the time Swiatek finally held serve for 1-0, the pair had already crossed the one-hour mark in a contest filled with momentum swings and extended exchanges.
Despite the inconsistency, Swiatek still found ways to dominate key moments. She broke the World No. 35-ranked Bejlek seven times and won eight of her 11 points at the net to seal the victory in one hour and 31 minutes.
The 24-year-old Pole has now reached the third round at all 24 Grand Slam tournaments played this decade, underlining her remarkable consistency on the sport’s biggest stages. In the Open Era, only Novak Djokovic managed a longer streak to begin a decade, reaching the third round at the first 25 majors of the 2010s.
Swiatek was initially on course for a blockbuster clash against Jelena Ostapenko, who holds a dominant 6-0 head-to-head record over the Polish star. However, that highly anticipated matchup was denied after fellow Pole Magda Linette stunned Ostapenko 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 in the second round earlier in the day.
Linette produced a composed performance to knock out the 2017 Roland Garros champion, capitalising on Ostapenko’s inconsistency and unforced errors to seal one of the biggest upsets of the round.
As a result, Swiatek will now face Linette in an all-Polish third-round clash on Friday, with a place in the second week of Roland Garros at stake.
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