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'Disrespectful' to talk about 'Iga bagel factory', says Swiatek / Photo: © AFP
'Disrespectful' to talk about 'Iga bagel factory', says Swiatek
Iga Swiatek said it would be "disrespectful" to her vanquished opponents to talk about her propensity for winning bagel sets after thrashing Wang Xinyu without losing a game at the French Open on Saturday.
The world number one, aiming to become the first woman to successfully defend the trophy at Roland Garros since Justine Henin in 2007, won 6-0, 6-0 in just 51 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier to reach the last 16.
Across 57 matches in 17 Grand Slam appearances in her young career, Swiatek has already won 19 sets to love.
But she knows how it feels to be on the wrong end of a bagel, having lost three sets at majors 6-0 herself, although all of those came across her first two Slam appearances in 2019 -- one in a match she won against Monica Puig.
"I don't want to really talk about that, because I really get why people do that, because it's fun and tennis is entertainment and everything," Swiatek said when asked about the "Iga bagel factory".
"But like from players' point of view, I want to kind of be respectful to my opponents and you don't see the stuff that is behind the scenes.
"Sometimes it's not easy to play such matches and sometimes it's not easy also for the opponents. I don't want to talk about the 'bakery'. Twitter can talk about it but I'm just going to be focused on tennis."
Swiatek, who also won the title in 2020 and is targeting a fourth Grand Slam triumph, will face Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko on Monday for a quarter-final berth.
Her path to the final was made easier earlier Saturday by the withdrawal of Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, a possible last-four opponent, due to illness.
That news did not put the 22-year-old off her stride, as she smashed 21 winners past her bewildered 80th-ranked opponent.
Swiatek has now secured bagels in four of the six sets she has played in the tournament so far.
Tsurenko joined compatriot Elina Svitolina in making the last 16 by romping to a 6-1, 6-1 win over 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.
The world number 66 hit 20 winners to Andreescu's six.
"The next match is the biggest challenge on the tour right now. She's world number one," said Tsurenko.
"We played recently and it wasn't very good for me, well, it wasn't really bad but she is really strong."
Swiatek beat Tsurenko in the 2022 French Open first round and in this year's Italian Open last 32, winning 6-2, 6-0 on both occasions.
L. Pchartschoy--BTZ
