Swiatek extends winning streak to reach fourth round at French Open

World No 1 and hot title favourite Iga Swiatek continued her remarkable winning streak as she defeated Montenegro's Danka Kovinic 6-3 7-5 to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros on Saturday.

The 20-year-old, who is unbeaten since last February, has also won 46 of her last 47 sets after claiming titles on clay courts in Stuttgart and Rome.

The 2020 champion is bidding to become the fourth player since 2000 to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup multiple times after Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

"I wanted to play aggressively but maybe putting too much power and her balls were so powerful so it was tough to handle at full speed. I had to take fewer risks but she did a great job defending," said Swiatek.

"She was serving with precision so it was tricky to see where she was going to serve but I have played heavy hitters before, although it was a bit hard to adjust at the beginning."

Swiatek began brightly and broke for 2-0 on her sixth opportunity but Kovinic, the world No 95, managed to break back in the seventh game as her heavy forehand began to cause the Pole problems.

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However, she immediately dropped serve again with four unforced errors in a row and Swiatek followed up on serve to take the opening set.

Kovinic's efforts took their toll as she lost four consecutive games to allow the world No 1 to move 4-1 up. But she found some unsuspected resources to break back twice before moving 5-4 up after winning 11 points in a row.

Facing the prospect of dropping her first set in the tournament, Swiatek found better angles to level for 5-5 and she then broke decisively when Kovinic misfired a forehand.

Whipping the ball with poise,