Swiatek runs streak to 30 as Tsitsipas survives another French Open epic

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Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas returns the ball to Czech Republic's Zdenek Kolar during their men's singles match on Day 5 of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Suzanne-Lenglen in Paris on May 26, 2022. (AFP)
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Poland's Iga Swiatek in action against the US' Alison Riske during their women's singles match on Day 5 of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Suzanne-Lenglen in Paris on May 26, 2022. (AFP)
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Updated 27 May 2022
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Swiatek runs streak to 30 as Tsitsipas survives another French Open epic

  • Swiatek, the 2020 champion in Paris, is on the best streak since Serena Williams’s 34-match winning run in 2013 and goes on to face Danka Kovinic of Montenegro for a place in the last 16
  • Fourth seed Tsitsipas needed another epic performance to reach the third round, beating world No. 134 and qualifier Zdenek Kolar of the Czech Republic

PARIS: Unstoppable world No. 1 Iga Swiatek racked up her 30th successive victory at the French Open on Thursday as 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas survived another Roland Garros rollercoaster.

Swiatek swept past Alison Riske of the US 6-0, 6-2 to reach the third round as only three of the top 10 women’s seeds survived the opening two rounds.

Eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova and Danielle Collins, the ninth seed, joined fellow top 10 players, defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, Maria Sakkari, Ons Jabeur, Anett Kontaveit and former winner Garbine Muguruza in failing to reach the last 32.

Swiatek, the 2020 champion in Paris, is on the best streak since Serena Williams’s 34-match winning run in 2013 and goes on to face Danka Kovinic of Montenegro for a place in the last 16.

Swiatek raced through the first set against 43rd-ranked Riske in just 21 minutes and was 3-0 up in the second before the American avoided a ‘double bagel’.

The Pole still managed to take her record of 6-0 sets in 2022 to a season-leading 15.

“I’m pretty happy to play some solid tennis,” said Swiatek who joins third seed Paula Badosa and seventh-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in the last 32.

Fourth seed Tsitsipas needed another epic performance to reach the third round, beating world No. 134 and qualifier Zdenek Kolar of the Czech Republic.

The Greek star saved four set points in the fourth set tiebreaker to win 6-3, 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (9/7) in a little over four hours.

On Tuesday, Tsitsipas had to come back from two sets down to defeat Lorenzo Musetti in the first round.

Kolar, 25, was playing in his maiden Grand Slam having tried and failed 16 times to qualify.

Tsitsipas will face Sweden’s Mikael Ymer for a place in the last 16.

“He drove me crazy,” said Tsitsipas. “It was really frustrating because he got behind every ball.”

Pliskova was knocked out by French world number 227 Leolia Jeanjean while Collins fell to American compatriot Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-3.

Pliskova, a semifinalist in Paris in 2017, lost 6-2, 6-2 to 26-year-old Jeanjean.

Jeanjean is the lowest-ranked woman to beat a top 10 player at Roland Garros in 34 years.

Considered a future star at 12, she saw her career abruptly halted by injuries, including a triple dislocation of the knee.

She then left to study in the United States, only returning to top-level tennis at the end of 2020.

“I wanted to come back so as not to regret anything. I think I made the right choice,” she said.

Pliskova has made the second week at Roland Garros just once in 11 visits.

Jeanjean will next face Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu who was fortunate not to be defaulted in her 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-4 win over 30th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Begu, in frustration, bounced a racquet into the crowd which then hit a child who burst into tears.

The supervisor was called but the 31-year-old escaped with a warning.

“It was embarrassing and I apologize,” said Begu.

World No. 3 Badosa overcame a scare to defeat 68th-ranked Kaja Juvan of Slovenia 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

Spain’s Badosa, a quarter-finalist in 2021, recovered from a break down in the decider to set up a meeting with 29th seed Veronika Kudermetova.

New York-born Badosa has endured a mediocre clay court season with a semifinal run in Stuttgart but early exits at the elite events in Madrid and Rome.

“That competitive streak that I had lost in recent weeks has come back,” she warned.

Simona Halep, the 2018 champion, fell to big-serving Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen, playing just her second Slam, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Halep admitted after the match that she had suffered a panic attack at the end of the first set. Sabalenka saw off Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3.

Daniil Medvedev, the men’s second seed, had few problems in making the third round with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win over Laslo Djere of Serbia.

Medvedev, who made the quarterfinals in 2021, goes on to face another Serb in Miomir Kecmanovic, the 28th seed.

Djere hit 39 winners Thursday but was undone by 68 unforced errors.

Danish teenager Holger Rune reached his first Slam third round with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 win over Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen.

The 19-year-old fired 28 winners and managed to avoid a worrying injury when his foot became lodged in a tarpaulin cover on Court 12.


Carrick relishing Frank reunion as Man Utd host Spurs

Updated 11 sec ago
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Carrick relishing Frank reunion as Man Utd host Spurs

  • Carrick has enjoyed a perfect start to life as interim United boss
  • Frank remains under intense pressure in his first season at Spurs

LONDON: Michael Carrick will go head to head with Thomas Frank just months after interviewing the Tottenham manager for television as Manchester United seek a fourth successive Premier League win on Saturday.
Former Spurs, United and England midfielder Carrick has enjoyed a perfect start to life as interim United boss — beating Manchester City, Premier League leaders Arsenal and Fulham.
Next in line for United are Spurs, 14th in the table after a miserable Premier League season so far.
Carrick, who replaced the sacked Ruben Amorim last month, interviewed Frank ahead of the Dane’s first Champions League game in charge of Tottenham.
“(Life) certainly can change,” said Carrick as he reflected on the Amazon Prime interview in September. “I really enjoyed it, actually.
“We got on really well. It’s the first time I’ve met him properly and we had a good chat just about general kind of football things... I enjoyed it, so it will be good to see him again.”
Former Brentford boss Frank remains under intense pressure in his first season at Spurs despite their impressive Champions League campaign and a recent uptick in results.
Last week’s 2-2 draw at home to City extended their unbeaten run to four matches.
“They certainly bring a challenge,” Carrick said. “I think you can see especially the way they finished the game the other day.
“They’ve had players injured and ins and outs, and a lot of changes to the team, which makes things a lot more challenging, a lot more difficult from their perspective. But they’re getting players back.”
Tottenham won all four of their meetings against United last season, including May’s Europa League final in Bilbao.
Carrick hopes to end that run against a club at which he spent two seasons before moving to Old Trafford in 2006.
“Coming here (United) was a jump and a big jump at the time,” he said. I certainly felt that pretty quickly and then I think once you step inside this place as a footballer, it turns you.
“So, pretty much from the first day walking into the dressing room and meeting the manager, from then on in that was me.”