PARIS: Defending champion Iga Swiatek continued her imperious march towards a third French Open title in four years with a 6-0, 6-0 humiliation of Wang Xinyu on Saturday to reach the fourth round.

The world number one swept her Chinese opponent aside in 51 minutes with a potential quarter-final clash against Coco Gauff, who she demolished in last year’s final, looming.

Gauff ended the run of fellow teenager Mirra Andreeva with a 6-7(5/7), 6-1, 6-1 victory, recovering from a tough start against the 16-year-old Russian.

But Andreeva’s lack of experience against a player three years older than her eventually showed as she quickly lost her composure along with the second and third sets.

Andreeva, ranked a lowly 143, had come through qualifying and was the youngest player to make the third round since 2005.

“Mirra is super young and has a big future,” said Gauff. “I remember I played here when I was 16 so she has a lot to look forward to. I’m sure you’ll see a lot more matches between us.”

Should they get through the next round against unseeded opponents, Gauff and Swiatek will play a re-match of last year’s final in which the American, seeded sixth this year, fell victim to the huge pressure on her shoulders and the metronomic game of the Pole.

Swiatek was in dazzling form on Saturday, dishing out a double bagel to Wang — the fourth time she has won a set 6-0 in the first three rounds.

“I am happy. It was a very strong performance from me and I was happy I was disciplined and took care of everything,” said Swiatek, who has lost only eight games since the start of the tournament.

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.

Rybakina had been due to face Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain in the third round in the opening match on Court Philippe Chatrier but said she was suffering with a fever.

“I was not feeling good yesterday and the day before. I didn’t sleep last night,” said the 23-year-old Kazakh. “I had fever and a headache and it’s difficult to breathe. I tried to play in the warm-up but I feel it’s the right decision to withdraw.

“I’m really upset not be able to play, but I guess that’s life. “There’s a lot of ups and downs. Today I wanted to give 100% and obviously I’m far from being 100%.”

Sorribes Tormo, ranked 132 in the world, will be playing in the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time.

In the men’s draw, Holger Rune took a step closer to becoming Denmark’s first male Grand Slam singles champion when he powered past Argentine qualifier Genaro Alberto Olivieri 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.

In the distance is a possible repeat of last year’s quarter-finals as Norway’s Casper Ruud, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2022, overcame a slow start to down Zhang Zhizhen of China 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-4 and reach the fourth round.

Ruud will next face in-form Nicolas Jarry after the Chilean edged out Marcos Giron of the United States 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 6-3.

Jarry had arrived in Paris with the Geneva clay court title under his belt and will be making a maiden appearance in the last 16 of a major.

Also featuring in the second week for the first time will be 49th-ranked Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina who stunned 15th seed Borna Coric 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.

Etcheverry will next face Japanese 27th seed Yoshihito Nishioka who edged a dramatic five-set battle with qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round for the first time.

Nishioka battled back to win 3-6, 7-6 (10/8), 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 against the Brazilian who had knocked out world number two Daniil Medvedev in the first round.

In Friday’s night session, top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz progressed into the fourth round as he thrashed 26th seed Denis Shapovalov for the loss of just seven games.

Alcaraz blasted past the Canadian 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 with the only slight blip when he trailed 4-1 in the second set.

He reeled off seven straight games after that wake-up call, though, to set up a fourth-round meeting with Italian 17th seed Lorenzo Musetti who dismantled British 14th seed Cameron Norrie 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his bid for a maiden Grand Slam title with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win over former semi-finalist Diego Schwartzman.

The Greek fifth seed, who a blew a two-set lead to Djokovic in the 2021 final, will next play Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner after making the second week for a fifth straight year. Ofner beat Fabio Fognini 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2023