Tennis: Swiatek seals 30th win a row after swiftly demolishing Riske

PARIS (AFP, REUTERS) The seeds have continued to fall in the women's draw of the French Open but Polish star Iga Swiatek is still standing tall.

The world No. 1 sealed her WTA Tour-leading 30th victory in a row after destroying American Alison Riske 6-0, 6-2 yesterday to move into the third round.

The 2020 French Open champion has won her past five tournaments, including four WTA 1000 titles, and few would bet against the Pole from claiming her second career Grand Slam.

Two years ago, Swiatek swept to victory at Roland Garros without dropping a set and she is on track to replicate that run.

"I'm staying consistent, just playing and being really focused is helpful... I don't want to think about that (the win streak) and I'm just pretty happy that I can play tennis," she said on court.

"In sports you have to just go for it and stay in the zone, and for me the priority is to stay aggressive."

Third seed Paula Badosa is the only top-six opponent left in the field that Swiatek can potentially face after the Spaniard outlasted Slovenia's Kaja Juvan 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 to book her spot in the third round.

While Badosa survived the scare, Karolina Pliskova did not as she became the sixth top-10 women's seed to exit the French Open when she was knocked out by world No. 227 Leolia Jeanjean yesterday.

The Czech lost 6-2, 6-2 to the French wild card. Former world No. 1 Pliskova joined fellow top-10 seeds, defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, Maria Sakkari, Ons Jabeur, Anett Kontaveit and former winner Garbine Muguruza, in failing to make the third round. Joining them is Simona Halep who was sent crashing out of the French Open by Zheng Qinwen in a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 defeat.

Four-time Slam winner Naomi Osaka and US Open champion Emma Raducanu are also out.

Jeanjean is the lowest-ranked woman to beat a top-10 player at Roland Garros in 34 years, leading Pliskova to admit that she was embarrassed by her loss.

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

Begu, in frustration, bounced a racket into the crowd which then hit a child who burst into tears. She escaped with a warning.

The world No. 63 appeared to be in remorse immediately following the incident and, after completing her victory, she hugged and consoled the boy and picked him up to pose for pictures.

However, tennis fans on social media questioned the decision to allow Begu to continue playing, pointing at Novak Djokovic's disqualification from the 2020 US Open after the top-ranked Serb inadvertently hit a line judge with a ball after losing a point.

World No. 3 Alexander Zverev was also kicked out of the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco in February, after he repeatedly smashed his racket against the umpire's chair after his doubles defeat.

Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev eased into the third round yesterday after a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win over Serb Laslo Djere. The Russian, who reached the last eight last year after four consecutive first-round exits, still has issues with clay, but his elasticity helps to make up for his lack of natural ability to move around on the slow surface.

Medevedev is well-liked by French fans as he is fluent in the language and the world No. 2 was quick to tease Swedish courtside interviewer and three-time Roland Garros champion Mats Wilander.

"I'm really disappointed, I thought you would speak French with the French crowd," he joked.