(May 26, 2025) Three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland opened her Roland Garros defense with 6-3, 6-3 win over Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia. The fifth seed has now won 22 straight matches at the French Open.
She is looking to become the first female player to win four straight French Open crowns in the Open Era..
Swiatek will play former US Open winner Emma Raducanu of Great Britain in the second round.
Raducanu needed almost three hours to beat Wang Xinyu 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Swiatek talked about playing Raducanu next: “Everybody has a different path…. but for sure she’s a great player and has, you know, great forehand. She can use her topspin pretty well. So we played already, we know each other’s game. For sure I will need to be intense and focus on myself.”
In their last meeting in the third round of the Australian Open in January, Swiatek dominated Raducanu 6-0, 6-1 in just 1 hour and 10 minutes.
“I didn’t really think about [the Australian Open] match, honestly,” Swiatek said after her win. “I was thinking about our Stuttgart match, and I think we played another time on clay after — I’m not sure. I’m not good at that. But I don’t really take a lot from that except the experience and … knowing how she plays. But Melbourne and Roland Garros [are] totally different surfaces, different stories. I’ll prepare tactically as I should before a clay court match, and that’s it.”
No. 10 seed Paula Badosa held off four-time major champion Naomi Osaka in the first round of Roland Garros on Monday 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-4.
In a match that could have easily been a second week encounter, Badosa said: “I knew that I had to be consistent, especially on this surface.
“Whoever is the most consistent has a big advantage, and as you know, I’m always going to fight. Even though I was 2-0 down (in the third set) I was telling myself to keep going because the level is high, and let the best one win.”
Osaka, disappointed with herself, was tearful during her short news conference.
“As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better. But also — I kind of talked about this before, maybe a couple years ago, or maybe recently, I’m not sure — I hate disappointing people,” said Osaka.
Referring to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who used to work with Serena Williams, Osaka said: “He goes from working with, like, the greatest player ever to, like, ‘What the (expletive) is this?’ You know what I mean? Sorry for cursing. I hope I don’t get fined.”
“I was really looking forward to playing Naomi,” Badosa said. “She’s a player that I respect – what she did on and off the court – and I love her tennis.
“Honestly, it’s not fair that I had to play her first round, but I’m really happy with the level, especially coming from an injury.”
