Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini are the first two players in the Paris Olympics women’s event to clinch wins as the top-ranked Pole and fourth-seeded Italian successfully won their openers behind the closed roof.
On Saturday afternoon, the organizers had to delay the start of several matches due to rain. However, since Swiatek and Paolini’s matches were scheduled for the two biggest courts at Roland Garros, they were able to start on time.
And Swiatek saw off Romania’s Irina Begu 6-2 7-5 while Paolini also beat a Romanian, defeating Ana Bogdan 7-5 6-3.
In the Paris second round, Swiatek plays against the winner of the match between Nadia Podoroska and Diane Parry. On the other side, Paolini faces either Mirra Andreeva or Magda Linette.
Swiatek was close to dropping the second set but managed to escape with a two-set win
Early in the first set, Swiatek opened a 2-0 lead but world No. 136 Begu managed to quickly get the break back and tie the opener to two games apiece. However, the five-time Grand Slam champion remained unfazed and got back-to-back breaks to win the next four games to seal the opener.
After winning the first set routinely, Swiatek missed out on two break points in the fourth game…
