Swiatek sinks Begu in Olympic opener

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Swiatek sinks Begu in Olympic opener

World No.1 Iga Swiatek made a winning start to her quest for a gold medal at the Paris Olympics with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Irina-Camela Begu at Roland Garros on Saturday.

The 1 hour, 45-minute win on Court Philippe-Chatrier earned the prohibitive podium favorite — winning any medal in Paris would be a “dream come true,” she says — a 22nd straight win on the grounds of Roland Garros, and a 20th consecutive clay-court win this year after she captured titles in the spring in Madrid, Rome and Paris.

But she did not have things all her own way in her return to her favorited surface against a former Top 25 player in Begu — who twice in her career has reached the second week of the French Open, and was entered in her third Olympics on an injury-protected ranking after she missed six months in the last year due to injury.

Playing with the roof closed due to rain, Swiatek hit more unforced errors than winners (30 to 22) in 1 hour and 45 minutes, but had more than her fair share of opportunities on return to avoid a third set. She broke Begu’s serve five times in 15 total opportunities, and won the match’s last four games.

But it was in that stretch where Swiatek cleaned up her game the most: She hit just one unforced error in the last four games to start her second Olympic campaign with a win.