Swiatek ease into second round in Paris, set to meet former World No.1

Iga Swiatek started on the front foot in her opening match at Roland Garros after a straight sets victory over qualifier Leolia Jeanjean on Monday in Paris.

The 22-year-old pole who with the victory extended her winning streak at the clay-court major event, used her powerful strikes to defeat her opponent 6-1, 6-2 and made a 15 wins on the spin at the French Open.

In doing so, Swiatek became the first woman to win 15 consecutive matches at the French Open since Justine Henin, who took 24 consecutive matches between 2005-10.

Swiatek hit 26 winners (against 18 unforced errors) in a match that clocked in at a little over an hour. Swiatek broke Jeanjean five times.

Swiatek has been the World No.1 since winning the WTA Finals last November in Cancun. She’s coming off back-to-back victories at the WTA 1000 events in Madrid and Rome and, riding a streak of 13 straight clay wins, is the favorite to win her third straight title at Roland Garros.

Swiatek will next lock horns with former World No.1 Naomi Osaka who defeated World No.11-ranked Daria Kasatkina in straight sets in the first round on Sunday.

Osaka defeated Swiatek nearly five years ago in Toronto when she was only 18 but Swiatek won their most recent match, two years ago in the Miami final. Those were both on hard courts, the surface that produced Osaka’s four majors titles, but clay has not always been her friend. After defeating Lucia Bronzetti in the first round (it went three sets), Osaka has won five clay matches in a season for the first time in five years, when she was the No.1-ranked player.