Iga Swiatek survived a big scare as she advanced to the French Open quarter-finals by beating Chinese teenager Qinwen Zheng 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2 for her 32nd consecutive victory on Monday.
The world number one, gunning for a second title in three years at Roland Garros, showed rare signs of nerves as she let a comfortable lead slip through her hands before steamrolling her opponent after Zheng suffered a thigh problem.
Poland's Swiatek, who will next face American 11th seed Jessica Pegula, is unbeaten since last February, claiming titles on clay in Stuttgart and Rome.
The 2020 champion is bidding to become the fourth player since 2000 to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup multiple times after Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
The 20-year-old is on the longest unbeaten run in the women's tour since Serena bagged 34 victories in succession in 2013.
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"She's playing amazing tennis," Swiatek said of Zheng. "I was surprised with some of her shots so congratulations to her. It's a tough tournament. I'm happy I could come back after a frustrating first set.
"I'm proud of myself that I'm still in the tournament."
Swiatek broke for 2-0 and kept her advantage throughout the first set although she rushed things at time.
The Pole wasted three set points at 5-3 and two more at 6-5 with Zheng forcing a tiebreak after throwing the kitchen sink at her.
Swiatek moved 5-2 up in the breaker and it seemed Zheng's resistance would finally end, only for the Chinese, nicknamed 'Fire' at her tennis academy in Spain, to go for her shots and win the remaining five points to take the set.
Zheng took a medical time out at 3-0 down in the second set, having her back massaged on court before going to the locker room and coming back with her right thigh strapped.
The treatment did not seem to help much as she dropped eight games in a row.
She picked herself up to fight back in the third but the Swiatek express train was already going full speed and the Pole wrapped it up when Zheng's backhand sailed long.
American Pegula rallies to beat Begu and reach first Paris quarters
American Jessica Pegula fought back to defeat 63rd-ranked Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Monday to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open for the first time.
The the 11th-seeded Pegula, the highest seed remaining in the women's draw after world number one Iga Swiatek, became the third American woman to reach the last eight of the claycourt Grand Slam at this year's Roland Garros tournament.
Pegula, who made the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in 2021 and 2022, did not lose a set in her first three rounds but Begu broke the American early and then sealed the opening set with a second break.
Pegula had lost both of their previous meetings in straight sets coming into Monday's contest and was forced to dig deep.
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The 28-year-old found her rhythm and broke Begu's serve three times over the next two sets to book her spot against either Swiatek.
"It's been weird because the first few matches until today I was cruising really fast, getting really big leads really quickly, losing some of those leads," Pegula said.
"Today I definitely didn't feel like I was playing my best from the get go, getting a little frustrated and then had to claw my way back. So it was basically the opposite of what I've been doing.
"I just tried to stay calm and think about what I had to do and also just try to hold on to my serve and get as many chances and just kind of grind it out.
"I was able to not get frustrated and then stay calm and figure out strategically what I needed to do. And then I was able to execute that, luckily."
With her victory against the 31-year-old Begu, Pegula also ensured she will break into top 10 of the women's rankings from her current career-high position of 11th when they are updated next Monday after the tournament.
"It feels weird ... I feel like I haven't really been able to like appreciate it because I still am like in a big tournament right now," Pegula told reporters. "It's just been amazing.
"I knew it was going to be really tough because obviously the higher you get, the harder it is to move up as well ... so I thought it was going to be a very tough goal to reach.
"But I'm pretty happy that halfway through and I have been able to reach that. It was definitely on my goals, but I don't think I was putting a ton of pressure on it."
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