By Howard Fendrich
Iga Swiatek turned things around at Roland-Garros after dropping eight of the first nine games against 12th-seeded Elena Rybakina in the fourth round Sunday, putting together a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory to extend her bid for a record fourth consecutive French Open championship.
The big-serving and hard-hitting Rybakina — who won Wimbledon in 2022 — got off to a stunning start, leading 5-0 after less than 20 minutes and grabbing 24 of the initial 32 points. She was responsible for 10 of the match’s first 12 winners.
“I needed to do something to get back in the match and, honestly, with her playing like that, I didn’t have a lot of hope,” Swiatek said afterward.
There was more of the same early in the second set. Swiatek double-faulted to close the first game, then turned to her team in the stands with her palms up and said something; soon she was down 2-0.
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