World No. 1 Iga Świątek Wins 32nd Straight Match, Faces American Jessica Pegula Next

Iga Świątek’s winning streak is now up to 32 matches.

With the world No. 1’s 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2 victory over Qinwen Zheng at Roland Garros on Monday, she has tied Justine Henin for the third longest winning streak among women this century. She closed the match out on her serve when Zheng smacked a backhand deep.

Only Venus (35) and Serena Williams (34) own longer streaks this century,

Świątek, who turns 21 Tuesday, will next face American Jessica Pegula, the No. 11 seed, in the quarterfinals. She is three match wins from tying Venus Williams’ record and also from capturing her second French Open title (2020). Pegula and Świątek are 1-1 in their career head-to head.

Pegula is one of three American women into the quarters, along with Coco Gauff and Sloane Stephens, who will square off on Tuesday in a blockbuster card that also features No. 3 Alexander Zverev against No. 6 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 1 Novak Djokovic meeting No. 5 Rafael Nadal for the 59th time.

Five American women had reached the round of 16.

Swiatek had her hands full with the 19-year-old Chinese star in the first set but led 5-2 in the tiebreaker before dropping five straight points and ultimately the set when she sprayed a backhand wide.

A leg injury limited Zheng in the second set when she was bageled, but she began to fight back in the third.

Swiatek earned a break for 5-2 in the third when Zheng double-faulted on break point.

Pegula rallied from a set down to defeat Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the quarters in Paris for the first time.

A quarterfinalist in back-to-back years at the Australian Open in 2021 and 2022, Pegula’s best prior result in Paris was a third round showing last year. She didn’t lose a set in her first three rounds to break new ground in 2022, but dropped serve twice against Begu to fall behind.

She trailed by a break for much of the first set, but after losing back-to-back, she never trailed again en route to securing the 2 hour, 8-minute win. Pegula broke Begu’s serve in the fourth game of the second and third sets to take leads she never relinquished.

The bottom half of the men’s draw will continue Wednesday in the quarters with No. Casper Ruud meeting Holger Rune and No. 7 Andrey Rublev (who advanced when Jannik Sinner retired) taking on No. 20 Marin Cilic, who routed No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

Ruud advanced with a four-set win over No. 12 Hubert Hurkacz while Rune, 19, toppled No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, to become the first Danish man to reach a major quarterfinal in the Open Era. Tsitsipas had reached the final a year ago, losing to Djokovic.

Just 12 months ago, Rune was ranked outside the Top 300 in the ATP Rankings. Now he is up to No. 31 in the ATP Live Rankings following a standout year.

“I have an unbelievable feeling right now,” Rune said in his on-court interview. “I was so nervous at the end but the crowd was amazing for me the whole match, the whole tournament. I am so grateful and so happy to be playing on this court. You guys are amazing.

“I was very nervous but I know at the same time that if I go away from my tactics against a player like Tsitsipas I am going to lose for sure. I told myself just to keep at it and play my plan in the tough moments. It worked out so well in the end and gave me a huge confidence boost. It is just so great to still be here.”