PARIS (AP) — For almost five full games at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek’s high-bouncing topspin shots were being sent back over the net by No. 52 Wang Xiyu of China with crushing baseline groundstrokes of her own.
Wang even held a break point that would have given her a 3-2 lead in the opening set.
Then Swiatek restored the expected order on Court Philippe Chatrier — the site of her four French Open titles — and won four straight games to close out the first set along the way to advancing to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory amid stifling conditions.
“It’s never about only one player,” Swiatek said. “I was aware that she can play great tennis. And I accepted that some points she can really take advantage. But I wanted to really be intense and push in the right moments. Also be patient and not slow down. So I think my intensity worked and in important moments I was the one that was more solid.”
In part because of Swiatek’s dominance on the red clay at Roland Garros, where the Olympic tennis tournament is being held, the 23-year-old from Poland is favored to add a gold medal to her growing collection of big titles.
Swiatek’s quarterfinal opponent will be eighth-seeded American Danielle Collins, who eliminated Camila Osorio of Colombia 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.
Second-ranked Coco Gauff was left fuming over a perceived missed officiating decision in a 7-6 (7), 6-2 loss to Donna Vekic of Croatia.
Angelique Kerber, the 36-year-old German who has won three Grand Slam titles and used to be ranked No. 1, beat 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-4, 6-3 to become the oldest women’s quarterfinalist since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988. Kerber has said the Paris Games will be the final tournament of her career.
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia eliminated Jasmine Paolini — the Italian who was the runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon this year — 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine rallied past seventh-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
“I don’t have this pressure of points, ranking, money. Whatever there is (on tour) is not here,” Kostyuk said. “So here you really come out and play with your heart.”
The full women’s quarterfinal lineup is: Swiatek vs. Collins, Kerber vs. Zheng Qinwen, Barbora Krejcikova vs. Schmiedlova, and Vekic vs. Kostyuk.
Temperatures in Paris hit 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit), leading organizers to activate the first step of an “extreme weather” protocol, giving athletes in singles matches the chance to request a 10-minute break before third sets.
In men’s action, Alexei Popyrin of Australia eliminated three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5.
“I think it’s probably one of the hottest conditions I’ve ever played in — and I’m from Australia, so that’s saying something,” Popyrin said.
The 39-year-old Wawrinka is nearing the end of his career but hasn’t set a retirement date.
“We’ll see at the end of the year,” Wawrinka said.
Popyrin next plays Tokyo gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany, who beat Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-5.
Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul both advanced. Fritz rallied past Jack Draper of Britain 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2, and Paul beat 18-year-old Czech player Jakub Mensik 6-3, 6-1.
In doubles, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz advanced into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 10-2 match tiebreaker victory over Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands.
Nadal was coming off a loss in singles a day earlier against Novak Djokovic, who is in action Wednesday against Dominik Koepfer.
Andy Murray also won in doubles. He and British partner Dan Evans saved two match points to beat the Belgian pair of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-3, 6-7 (8), 11-9 after saving two match points.
Murray has announced he will retire after the Olympics.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
