Simona Halep suffers panic attack during second-round exit at French Open; World No 1 Iga Swiatek notches up her 30th win in succession; Karolina Pliskova out after losing to Leolia Jeanjean, who is ranked 227 in the world
Halep, French Open champion in 2018, was a set and a break up against Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen but then struggled to breathe and called for the doctor.
Zheng took 11 of the final 12 games to turn the match around and win 2-6 6-2 6-1.
Halep said afterwards: “I probably put pressure on myself too much, because I really wanted to do well. I got a little bit of panic during [the match] thinking, overthinking.
“I didn’t know how to handle it, because I don’t have it often. I don’t really know why it happened, because I was leading the match. I was playing well but it happened and I lost it. I couldn’t focus.”
” After the match it was pretty tough. But now I’m good. I’m recovered and I will learn from this episode.”
Swiatek, meanwhile, needed just 61 minutes to beat Alison Riske and progress into the third round.
The 6-0 6-2 victory extends Swiatek’s winning streak out to 30 matches and continues to highlight why so many are predicting her to win a second French Open title this year.
Since taking over from Ash Barty as the world No 1, Swiatek has taken her tennis to a new level and against Riske, the 2020 French Open champion, she dominated every facet of the match.
Swiatek hit 23 winners to just six from Riske and she converted five of the nine break points she created.
“I’m pretty happy,” Swiatek said on court after.
“I’m just happy that I’m playing really solid tennis and I think this is my first singles match on Court Suzanne-Lenglen so it was a pleasure playing here and thank you [to the fans] for cheering.
Swiatek entered the court extremely focused and flew out of the blocks. She won the first nine games before Riske got on the board, and even that game went to deuce.
“It’s been something I’ve been working on since I started,” Swiatek said about the focus she has early in matches.
“Just being focused and wanting to put pressure on my opponent is really helpful as it means that I have the initiative from the beginning and can really lead on court.
“It’s not that easy before every match because you have to get pumped up and in the zone, but I’m getting better and better at it.”
Swiatek will now have a day off before facing the world No 95 Danka Kovinic in the third round on Saturday.
