Iga Swiatek breaks new ground for Poland at Olympics as she improves incredible statistics
Iga Swiatek remains on course in her quest to win a first Olympic gold medal after she earned a hard-fought straight-set win against Wang Xiyu at the Paris Games.
The world No 1 defeated her 23-year-old Chinese opponent 6-3, 6-4 on Court Philippe-Chatrier to advance to the quarter-finals of the Olympics.
Swiatek staved off three break points before she earned the first break of the third round contest on her way to claiming the opening set against the world No 52.
The Polish star was twice pegged back after going up a break in a close second set, but she earned a third and decisive break to take a 5-4 lead before sealing victory.
It was a far tougher outing for Swiatek than her second round match — in which she demolished Diane Parry 6-1, 6-1. In the first round, Swiatek overcame Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2, 7-5.
The 23-year-old, who is competing at her second Olympics after making her debut in Tokyo in 2021, has reached the last eight at the Games for the first time.
Iga Swiatek News
Iga Swiatek becomes 4th woman in 21st Century to hit incredible clay court milestone
Swiatek has become the first Polish player in history to reach the quarter-finals at the Olympic Games in singles and she is a firm favourite to go on to win the title.
The Pole’s victory over Wang was her 50th win of the 2024 season and her 22nd consecutive triumph on clay courts — a streak that started in April at the Madrid Open.
The five-time Grand Slam champion has now won 17 consecutive sets on Court Philippe-Chatrier since her three-set second round win over Naomi Osaka at the French Open at the end of May.
Prior to beating Wang, Swiatek earned straight-set wins over Marie Bouzkova, Anastasia Potapova, Marketa Vondrousova, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, Begu and Parry during her stunning clay streak.
The four-time Roland Garros winner will take on world No 9 Danielle Collins in the quarter-finals in Paris on Wednesday. She holds a 6-1 head-to-head record against the 30-year-old American. The winner will face either Angelique Kerber or Qinwen Zheng in the semi-finals.
In the last eight matches in the bottom half of the women’s singles draw, Barbora Krejcikova will face Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, while Marta Kostyuk will meet Donna Vekic.
