Swiatek finds focus amid win streak

PARIS — It’s been so long since No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek lost — 31 matches in a row — and even since she ceded so much as a set — that last happened more than a month ago — that she could be forgiven if she couldn’t recall how to react when in trouble on a tennis court.

Which is why it was worth watching as the 2020 French Open champion navigated a couple of tricky spots in the third round at Roland Garros on Saturday.

Turns out Swiatek didn’t panic and didn’t allow thoughts about this dominant run coming to an end distract her in what would become a 6-3, 7-5 victory against hard-hitting Danka Kovinic of Montenegro.

“Thinking about all these stats, it’s not really helpful. So basically I try to be really strict in terms of my thoughts and try to really focus on … finding solutions,” said Swiatek. ,“The thoughts are there, but I’m accepting that.”

Kovinic also got a tooclose-for-comfort look at Swiatek’s predecessor atop the WTA rankings, the since-retired Ash Barty, during a 6-0, 6-0 loss at the Australian Open in January.

After Saturday’s setback, Kovinic said she was dealing with a nerve issue in her right shoulder and felt tingling in that arm and two of her fingers. She also said she made sure to deliver a message to Swiatek when they shook hands at the net.

“I told her, ‘Keep going.’ It’s really great for tennis, for our sport, what she’s doing. Obviously, she has something extra that the rest of us don’t have,” the 95th-ranked Kovinic said. “She has something special. What it is, I don’t know.”

Other women’s fourthrounders are Jessica Pegula vs. Irina-Camelia Begu, who was fined $10,000 after she threw her racket and it bounced into the stands and brushed a child in the stands earlier in the week; Daria Kasatkina vs. Camila Giorgi; and Madison Keys vs. Veronika Kudermetova.