Iga Swiatek overpowers Claire Liu; Madison Keys falls to Kayla Day

Defending champion Iga Swiatek overcame a minor stumble to secure her spot in the third round of the French Open, Elena Rybakina showed her improving comfort on clay, and Madison Keys‘ error-filled day led to her being eliminated by fellow American Kayla Day on Thursday.

Swiatek, who is looking to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup for the third time in four years, started strongly before briefly struggling on Court Philippe Chatrier. The world No. 1 picked herself up quickly to end American Claire Liu‘s campaign with a 6-4, 6-0 victory.

“It’s not easy when you play with the wind and change sides to play against it. I’m happy I raised my level in the second set,” said Swiatek, who turned 22 on Wednesday. “Patience is important, especially on clay.”

Swiatek raced to a 3-0 lead, but she looked too much in a hurry and Liu pulled one of two breaks back as the Polish player briefly lost her focus. Liu leveled for 3-3 but dropped serve again as Swiatek bagged the opening set.

She did not look back, finishing the victory on the second match point with a backhand winner down the line. Swiatek next faces China’s Wang Xinyu, who defeated Rebecca Peterson 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Rybakina, the Wimbledon champion and No. 4 seed at Roland Garros, beat 18-year-old Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-3 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

“I cannot say that here it’s easy for me. It’s still every match getting better and better,” Rybakina said on court. “It was a bit slippery for me today. I don’t know why.”

She ought to be feeling cozy on dirt after winning the Italian Open, but the 6-foot Kazakh is banking most of her confidence on her height advantage.

“This is my good weapon,” she said, “but at the same time, to move on clay it’s not easy. It’s always I need more to prepare and, of course, be more patient during the rallies.”

The Australian Open runner-up hit 30 winners to Noskova’s 16, though both players had 26 unforced errors. The Moscow-born Rybakina, who beat Brenda Fruhvirtova in the first round, will next face Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.

Keys committed a whopping 74 unforced errors in her 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 loss to Day on Court Simonne Mathieu.

Day, who won the girls’ title at the 2016 US Open, is ranked 138th and came through qualifying to make her Roland Garros main-draw debut. She beat French wild card Kristina Mladenovic in the first round.

Injuries and the coronavirus pandemic stalled Day’s career, she explained.

“I tore my quad. I fractured my foot. I tore both labrums in my hip. So it was just a lot of bad luck, one thing after another,” Day said. “Every time I tried coming back, it just felt like something else would happen.”

Teenager Mirra Andreeva‘s Grand Slam debut keeps getting better. The 16-year-old Russian beat Diane Parry of France 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round and a possible matchup with Coco Gauff. Andreeva has dropped just six games through two rounds.

American Bernarda Pera upset No. 22 Donna Vekic 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.