At French Open, Swiatek loses set, extends match win streak

PARIS — The loss of one set by a player is normally not the stuff of headlines at a Grand Slam tournament. That did constitute news at the French Open on Monday, because the player was No 1-ranked Iga Swiatek and it had been more than a month since that happened to her.

The way it came about was noteworthy, too: She led the first set of her fourth-round match against 74th-ranked Zheng Qinwen of China 3-0, then 5-2, and was a point from claiming it on five occasions but could not seal the deal. Swiatek entered the day having won 20 sets in a row, and 48 of her preceding 49.

All that truly mattered, in the end, was that 2020 champion Swiatek would not lose another set on this cloudy evening, getting past the hard-swinging Zheng 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2 to return to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and run her winning streak to 32 consecutive matches.

"I'm pretty happy I could come back after a pretty frustrating first set when I had the lead," Swiatek said. "Pretty happy with myself that I'm still in the tournament." Swiatek regrouped by changing tactics — she sped up her forehand instead of absorbing Zheng's power — and in a less conventional way, too, deciding to change her tune. No, really: She switched which song she was singing in her head during the match.