French Open 2023: Iga Swiatek hailed as 'ruthless' by Mats Wilander following demolition of Xinyu Wang

Updated 03/06/2023 at 15:47 GMT

Eurosport's Mats Wilander reckons Iga Swiatek's French Open "hasn't started yet" as she cruised through another round in quick time. This time it was China's Xinyu Wang on the receiving end of not one but two bagels as the world No. 1 clinically progressed to the fourth round. With the withdrawal of rival Elena Rybakina on Saturday, the Pole's chances of back-to-back French Opens grow stronger.

'Wow, ruthless' - Reaction to outrageous Swiatek double-bagel victory

Iga Swiatek was hailed as "ruthless" by Eurosport's Mats Wilander following the Pole's double-bagel demolition of Xinyu Wang in the third round of the French Open.

Swiatek was on court just 51 minutes to see off her Chinese opponent, and has lost only eight games in her three matches so far at Roland-Garros.

Her displays seem to make the world No. 1 the hot favourite for back-to-back titles in Paris, especially as one of her likely rivals later in the event, Elena Rybakina, withdrew on Saturday with a respiratory illness.

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Reacting to Swiatek's demolition job was Mats Wilander on Eurosport, and he said: "It’s perfect for her [the win over Wang].

"She pulled out of Rome [during her quarter-final against Rybakina] and had a few days off, and then she got back to practice.

"She doesn’t need a tough match; winning easily 6-0 6-0 is relaxing and her confidence is going to keep growing.

"Thank God for Wang it [the double-bagelling] was in the third round. These matches happen often in the first round and you feel awful [after].

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"But hey, she won two matches at the French Open, and that’s amazing. That’ll hurt for Wang, but Iga - wow. Ruthless."

On how Swiatek is approaching matches, Wilander added: "She’s not playing every point like it’s match point, but she’s trying to play great on every point, and there’s a big difference between the two.

"When you play great on every point, it doesn’t mean you win all of them, but you play them the way you want to play them.

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"That’s what she does so well and it’s very hard to keep the focus when you’re winning this easily on clay. It’s great practice.

"It’s not important for her to get tested in three sets. She’s testing herself every point, with every shot having a meaning to it.

"She’s saving energy, and her tournament hasn’t started yet."

Alize Lim was alongside Wilander, and she hinted at the match-up that many people are already looking ahead to - Swiatek against the so-far equally impressive Aryna Sabalenka.

'Utterly dominant' - Swiatek breezes past Wang with incredible double-bagel

"I like the fact that Iga is right there, showing that she can be there and dominate, setting the tone for Sabalenka who is thinking about Iga when practising," Lim said.

"It’s motivating her to be better, because if she wants to beat her, she has to move better and push herself."

Swiatek will face either Bianca Andreescu or Lesia Tsurenko in the fourth round.

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