Iga Swiatek used her devastating spin and trajectory to get past Magda Linette on Friday
Four-time champion Iga Swiatek is looking like her old, dominant self in Paris.
The Pole moved through her third-round clash with compatriot Magda Linette on Friday afternoon on Court Chatrier, pulling away after a tense opening eight games, to book her eighth trip to the second week on the Parisian clay, 6-4, 6-4.
Tension rippled through the encounter in the early stages, with Linette angling for her second consecutive win over Swiatek after defeating her in three sets in Miami in March. After falling behind 2-0, Swiatek settled in and methodically gained the upper hand.
The six-time major champion clocked a fizzing forehand winner for a break for 5-4 then prevailed in one of the longest rallies of the match a game later to lock down the opening set, 6-4.
Noticeably bossing the rallies, Swiatek showed signs of her former self as she ratcheted up the spin and trajectory of her forehand to put Linette on a string in her backcourt.
“Iga’s forehand looks much different today than it was in the first few rounds of this tournament,” said three-time major champion Lindsay Davenport, who commentated the match for TNT. “She’s able to hit through the court more effectively, she’s up at almost 3000 rpms – that is a lot.”
According to graphics shown during the broadcast, Swiatek is finding nine centimetres more net clearance on her forehand this year, compared with last year, and she is delivering approximately 160 more rpms off that devastating forehand wing.
After claiming the opener, Swiatek raced out to a double-break lead, but 73rd-ranked Linette answered back, recapturing one of the breaks for 2-4 and holding for 3-4 to put pressure back on Swiatek.
Swiatek, the consummate frontrunner on the terre battue, closed the books on Linette in an hour and 25 minutes, finishing the match with two consecutive holds of serve. The 24-year-old remains undefeated at Roland-Garros after claiming the opening set, winning 39 such matches, and 37 of those 39 in straight sets.
The 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 champion improves to 43-3 lifetime at Roland-Garros and sets an enticing round of 16 clash with Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who will carry a 14-0 record on clay into their fourth career meeting.
Swiatek has won the previous three, including a 6-3, 6-4 triumph in Paris in 2021 in their only clay court meeting.
Though she had some struggles on serve during Friday’s contest, Swiatek can take comfort in the fact that her forehand is now firing on all cylinders.
“She’s getting back to playing more clay-court style tennis, not trying to outhit big hitters, but using the bounce and using her topspin to do a lot of the work on the clay,” Davenport said.
1993 women’s singles finalist Mary Joe Fernandez was also impressed.
“It gives her more safety, so she has more margin for error, and it also gives her more time to set up the next shot, when she hits higher over the net,” said the American, also a TNT commentator. “Now she’s using it in a better way to open up the court.
"That’s when she’s at her best, when she can just start controlling the point, moving her opponent from corner to corner, and the forehand is where it all starts.”
ROLAND-GARROS
18 May - 7 June 2026
