Top favorite Iga Swiatek continued her strong run at the 2024 Paris Olympics, beating native hopeful Diane Parry easily in two sets.
Two months ago, fans at Roland Garros got a good preview of what might happen at this year's Olympic Games in the French capital. It was mainly because this year's Olympics are played on the same courts as the French Open, so players who did well then were likely to do that again.
That's certainly the case for Swiatek, who won her fourth Roland Garros trophy earlier this year by beating Jasmine Paolini in the final in two sets, and that's why she arrived in Paris as the top favorite.
The first match at the Olympics was a relatively easy win for her, and her second-round match wasn't that much different. She faced a native hopeful, Parry, who is known as a player who can make their opponent's stay on the court miserable if she is allowed to do that, but for the most part, she couldn't challenge the top seed in this match.
To beat the Polish player, she must be overwhelmed, and the opponent needs to be able to hit through her, which Parry couldn't do. Her game has more variety, with tricks and slices, but that's not the way to play in hopes of beating the four-time Roland Garros champion.
The start of the match showed quickly that this wasn't going to be a good day at the office for Parry, as she was broken in the first service game she had.
Swiatek quickly took a 3-0 lead and added another break for the 5-0 lead. Eventually, the French player was able to win one game, but that wasn't enough to stop her opponent, as the Pole won the opening set 6-1.
The top seed needed more than 30 minutes, but that's only because the last few games were extended. She cruised quickly through the games before, mostly because she was just outhitting her opponent in the vast majority of the rallies.
The French player tried to be aggressive because she had to, but it backfired, as she had only three winners and 12 unforced errors in the opening set of this second-round match under five Olympic rings.
The Polish player, meanwhile, had ten winners and only four unforced errors. Swiatek started the second set with an early break as well, mostly because she was just the better player on the Court Philippe-Chatrier.
It was very hard for Parry to win three or four consecutive points, which she needed to do to win games. Over the course of more rallies, Swiatek just won the majority of them, and that's why the match went the way it did and the score looked the way it did.
After taking that early break, Swiatek could ease into the flow of the match and keep doing what she was doing as the lead remained stable. Very quickly, it was 2-0 and then 3-1 and then ultimately 6-1, which was the final score for the second set.
The final score of the match was 6-1, 6-1, as the Polish player looked every bit a champion as ever.
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