Uzma Fatima
In the fourth round of the 2024 French Open, the defending champion Iga Swiatek demolished the world no. 41 Anastasia Potapova with a remarkable score reading 6-0, 6-0.
It was the first encounter between Iga Swiatek and Anastasia Potapova in the WTA Tour. But, Russia's Potapova has a long-standing rivalry against the current World No.1, dating back to their childhood. During their European Junior 14s champion era, Potapova had defeated Swiatek at Roland Garros in 2016.
Just like a force to be reckoned with, Iga Swiatek taking the control since the beginning to the end finished the round four match in only 40 minutes winning 48 of 58 points. It was the shortest WTA tour-level match of Swiatek's career
Potapova had a rough start, within only 19 minutes she made a double fault, while Swiatek had secured 24 of 30 points in the first set. Also in the second set, the struggle continued, as Iga earned 24 of the 28 points. In the entire match, Potapova won a mere three return points.
During the post-match interview, Iga Swiatek was asked if this astonishing 6-0, 6-0 victory could be counted as revenge for the past defeats that Potapova handed her in 2016. She replied, " There’s no point to think about that, but I had just a thought like that. It lasted two seconds."
With this, Iga Swiatek now enters the quarterfinals of the French Open 2024. She is en route to clinching her fourth Roland Garros title, coming on the back of two consecutive trophy victories.
Iga Swiatek faced Marie Bouzkova in the third round at Roland Garros and sealed a 6-4 6-2 win over the World No. 42.
The second round witnessed a thrilling clash between the four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek who has won as many titles. The Japanese tennis star, Osaka tried her heart out, however, at the end, World No.1 secured victory with 6-7 (1-7), 6-1, 5-7 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Iga Swiatek will take on the No.5 seed Marketa Vondrousova on June 4, Tuesday in the quarterfinal match at the French Open.