Swiatek ease into round 16 on her 23rd birthday

Iga Swiatek’s career record as a 23-year-old is 1-0. The World No. 1 and two-time defending Roland Garros champion celebrated her birthday Friday in Paris with a 6-4, 6-2 win over unseeded Czech Marie Bouzkova to safely seal a berth in the Round of 16 for the sixth year in a row.

In her first-ever meeting against Bouzkova, Swiatek broke serve four times, doubled Bouzkova’s total of winners, and won seven of the last nine games in 1 hour and 33 minutes minutes on court in total.

Swiatek is assured of facing another unseeded player in the Round of 16, as she’ll face either World No.41 Anastasia Potapova for a spot in the quarterfinals. Potapova came from 4-0 down in the first set of her 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-4 win against China’s Wang Xinyu, ranked No.37.

Elsewhere, No.8 seed Ons Jabeur moved into the Roland Garros Round of 16 for the fourth time in her career with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over No.31 seed Leylah Fernandez on Friday.

Jabeur will have her first meeting with Denmark’s Clara Tauson in the Round of 16. Former top-ranked junior Tauson has beaten two Grand Slam champions, Jelena Ostapenko and Sofia Kenin, in her last two rounds.

Coco Gauff’s 6-2, 6-4 victory over Dayana Yastremska sent her flying into the second week at Roland Garros — and had her nasty return game to thank.

The No.3-seeded Gauff won five of Yastremska’s nine service games (56 percent), against a player who reached the Australian Open semifinals as a qualifier earlier this year. In three matches here, Gauff’s a sizzling 15-for-25.

The results were immediate. In the span of a few months, Gauff won her first WTA Tour 500 (Washington, D.C.), 1000 (Cincinnati) and Grand Slam (US Open).