Swiatek begins French Open title defense with win over Bucsa

French Open 2023: Defending champion Swiatek beat world number 70 Bucsa 6-4, 6-0 in an hour and 13 minutes on the Philippe- Chatrier Court.

Poland’s Iga Swiatek in action during her first-round win over Cristina Bucsa of Spain at the 2023 French Open on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

World number one Iga Swiatek launched her French Open title defence on Tuesday by easing past Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 6-0 to move into the second round.

The Pole, chasing a third French Open title in four years, got off to a sluggish start on a windy afternoon on Philippe-Chatrier court.

She had beaten the Spaniard in under an hour, losing just one game, at this year’s Australian Open but Swiatek had a less than perfect run-up to Paris, retiring from her Italian Open quarterfinal after suffering a thigh injury two weeks ago.

The triple Grand Slam winner was broken twice in her first three service games as a determined Bucsa, ranked 70th in the world, mixed it up and initially succeeded in throwing her opponent off balance.

“I just felt more tense, for sure,” Swiatek said. “But I managed to turn that around and not think about all the stuff that is usually bothering when you play your first match.”

“You hear a bit more, you have to get used to the stuff surrounding you. I just felt like I needed to gain some information to play more solid. I did that.”

She made amends for her first-set wobble with a bagel as she looks to add to her 2020 and 2022 French Open titles and protect her top spot from world number two Aryna Sabalenka.

“Of course I feel pressure, we all feel pressure,” said Swiatek, who turns 22 on Wednesday.

“If I said I don’t, I would be lying. I try to work with it and play my game. The most important thing in tennis right now is to cope with it.” 

Rybakina overcomes slow start to down Brenda Fruhvirtova

Elena Rybakina shook off a sluggish start and continued her fine run on clay as the world number four moved into the second round with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Czech qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova.

The Wimbledon champion announced herself as a player for all surfaces by capturing the Italian Open title earlier this month, but dropped serve in the seventh game against Fruhvirtova before breaking right back and easing through the opening set.

The Moscow born-Kazakh broke back to draw level at 2-2 in the second set before switching gears again to quell the challenge of the 16-year-old Fruhvirtova, whose sister Linda also fell in the first round a day earlier.

Rybakina takes on another Czech in Linda Noskova in the next round as she continues her quest for a second major.