PARIS: Defending champion Iga Swiatek wasted no time reaching the French Open third round as she sent out an ominous message to her title rivals with a crushing 6-1 6-1 defeat of Rebecca Peterson on Thursday.
The 20-year-old needed only 61 minutes to overwhelm Peterson, the only Swede in the women’s draw.
Swiatek, who took Roland Garros by storm last October to become the first Polish player to win a Grand Slam singles title, led 5-0 in both sets in a dominant display.
Even a dip in temperature on Court Simonne-Mathieu and some drops of rain could not slow down Swiatek’s onslaught as she set up a clash with 30th seed Anett Kontaveit who as equally impressing in thrashing Kristina Mladenovic.