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World No. 1 Iga Swiatek kicks off Paris 2024 bid with sweep of Irina-Camela Begu

Kristina Villanueva
Saturday, July 27, 2024

Iga Swiatek, who lifted the winning trophy four times at the Court-Philippe Chatrier, is a heavy favorite to win the gold in Paris 2024.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek kicks off Paris 2024 bid with sweep of Irina-Camela Begu
Iga Swiatek is already earning the "Queen of Clay" tag due to her success on clay, including winning three straight and four overall titles in Roland Garros. | Photo (c) International Tennis Federation
Playing in familiar territory where she has reigned supreme four times, Iga Swiatek showed championship poise in the face of a second set challenge from Irina-Camela Begu to eventually take a 6-2, 7-5 victory in the opener of her Paris 2024 campaign on Court-Philippe-Chatrier on Saturday, July 27.

After a fairly comfortable first set where she only gave up two games to her foe, Swiatek figured in a tighter battle against Begu in the second and even got broken in the seventh game to go down 3-4.

Begu went on to hold at 5-3 but Swiatek reeled off four straight games to advance.

The Pole, a heavy favorite to lift the trophy in Paris after her dominance on clay, her best surface, will try to improve on her second-round exit in her Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago as she tangles with either Argentina's Nadia Podoroska or France's Diane Parry next.

Playing under the roof due to rain, the reigning Roland Garros champion did not play as cleanly, spraying 30 unforced errors. But she produced 18 winners, 12 of which coming off from her pet forehand, while forcing 28 mistakes from her opponent.

Begu had lesser unforced errors at 22 but only came up with six winners.

Swiatek converted five of her 15 break point opportunities in the one-hour-and-45-minute match, including the last game where she broke Begu at love.

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