World No.1 Iga Swiatek survives tough three-setter against Zheng Qinwen in French Open quarters

World No.1 women`s tennis player Iga Swiatek was stretched all the way by Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen in the fourth round of the French Open, before the Pole rallied for a three-set win to set up a quarterfinal clash with American Jessica Pegula.

The former winner at Roland Garros dropped her first set in more than a month against Zheng, but rallied for a 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2 win inside Court Philippe-Chatrier to extend her unbeaten run to 32 consecutive matches.

Swiatek last lost a set on April 23, when she was taken the distance by Liudmila Samsonovaof Russia in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. She was pushed hard by the 19-year-old Zheng in an opening set that lasted a gruelling 82 minutes.

The Chinese saved five set points, and rallied from 5-2 deficits in both the set and the ensuing tiebreak.

"I tried to loosen up my hand a little bit. She (Zheng) played really good tennis with heavy topspins. The key in the second set was kind of not letting her do that again. I`m pretty happy that I could play a little bit faster and put pressure on her. I felt like I was a little bit in trouble, and I was able to come back and really refocus and find other solutions, so that`s great," conceded Swiatek, the 2020 champion at Roland Garros.

Zheng seemed to be tiring in the second set after the gruelling first set. After losing the first three games, she took a medical timeout and emerged with her right upper leg heavily wrapped. Zheng revealed after the match that she was dealing with stomach trouble.

"I got really pained stomach and I try my best, but it`s just, in the second and third set, I couldn`t, I didn`t have power to scream one, "Come on," even and it was really tough," Zheng was quoted as saying by wtatennis.com.

"I want to fight, I really, really want to fight, but I just don`t have power and it was really tough. I couldn`t show my tennis today in the second and third set, even in the first set, I`m really not happy with my performance.

"The leg was, it was also tough. That compared to the stomach was easy ... If I don`t talk about today, I`m happy with my performance all this run. To play against the No. 1 in the world, I feel really I enjoy on the court. If I don`t have my stomach, I think I could enjoy more, like to run better and to hit more harder, to give more effort on court.

"It`s pity that I couldn`t give that what I want to give today. I just want, the next time I play against her, I have perfect shape and go for the next fight," added Zheng.

Following the 2 hour, 45-minute slugfest, Swiatek will face 11th-seeded American Jessica Pegula. Pegula rallied for a three-set win over Romania`s Irina-Camelia Begu, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the last eight in Paris for the first time.

Pegula had previously never won a set against Begu. The Romanian won their first two meetings, including at the WTA 250 in Melbourne to start this season. She`s one of three American players to reach the quarterfinals, as Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff will play in the last eight in the bottom half.