‘Happy’ Iga Swiatek ties Chris Evert record after latest French Open win
Iga Swiatek has tied an impressive Chris Evert record after her latest French Open win, where she defeated Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 7-5.
It was a match of two halves for the former world No 1, with the first set lasting just over 30 minutes, whilst the second taking nearly three times as long.
Swiatek didn’t have to face a break point in any of her service games during the first set, before saving all six opportunities that the Belgian created.
With the victory, the five-time Grand Slam champion has now equalled Chris Evert’s record for the most main draw wins by a female singles player after their first 40 matches played at the French Open.
Swiatek now possesses 38 wins within the 40 matches, having also won her last 24 matches.
“I’m just happy that I was super solid in the last game and didn’t give any free points,” stated Swiatek, after her victory
“She used her chances and went for it every time I gave her a chance.
“It was a great match and I think pretty entertaining. We both played nice; I’m happy I’m through and happy with the performance.”
Swiatek will next play Elena Rybakina in the fourth round, which promises to be a true test of her level as their head-to-head is tied at 4-4.
That test comes amid a relatively disappointing period for the former world No 1, failing to reach a final since she won the French Open in 2024 – and consistently falling early in the 2025 WTA 1000 tournaments.
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Ironically, the victory comes just days after Evert gave her honest assessment of the Pole’s inconsistent form.
“I don’t think it’s just the last two weeks. She hasn’t won a tournament in a year. She hasn’t one a tournament since last year’s French Open. So this has been this has been going on for a while,” Evert told TNT Sports.
“Slowly that just builds and builds and builds the more you lose the more You lose confidence in your game. And then the more the other players feel that they’ve got a real shot.
“And I think when I watched Coco beat her, Coco, I think has beaten her the last two times, and I think they were going forehand to forehand the whole time because both of their forehands are weaknesses and Coco’s forehand held up better than Iga’s.
“So to me, the players know a strategy now how to play Iga and they know she’s not invincible anymore because she’s lost some matches. So, it’s a combination of Iga losing confidence because she hasn’t won a tournament in a year.
“How can you be a number one player? You know, because she was number one at some point. You can’t be a number one player and not win a tournament for a year.
“And so it’s that component losing confidence, but it’s also the component of the other players are like, they think that they have a shot now against her on the clay. And before that, they didn’t.
“So it’s those two things that are working in the life of Iga right now. And by the way, I hope she finds her level.
“I was a champion and I know how it feels when you lose that edge against the other players and she’s a nice person, she’s good person, she’s nice person and I hope that level that made her the greatest clay court or maybe one of the greatest clay court players ever.”
