Tennis star quit singles so she wouldn't become 'victim' to Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek won through to the last eight of the French Open after a 6-0 6-0 win over Anastasia Potapova
Australian tennis star Ellen Perez has claimed she gave up on singles competition to avoid being part of Iga Swiatek's remarkable streak. The world No.1 is currently on course for a fourth French Open title in five years, after dismantling Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-0 in the last-16.
That has set up a quarter-final clash with Marketa Simkova on Tuesday, when the Pole will start as clear favourite against the fifth seed.
But not only did Swiatek’s latest win keep her on track for glory at Roland Garros, it also continued a remarkable streak for the 23-year-old.
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Tennis reporter Bastien Fachen noted the significance of the scoreline on X, writing: “Iga Swiatek is now on an oddly specific and kinda scary streak of four consecutive years double bageling an opponent whose name starts with a P.”
Fachen also detailed the previous relevant clashes starting with the 6-0 6-0 win over Karolina Pliskova in Rome in 2021. The following year, Swiatek beat Andreea Prisacariu in the Billie Jean King Cup, again without dropping a game.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was dispatched in similar fashion in 2023, again in Rome. And the sequence continued on Sunday with her latest resounding display against Russian player Potapova.
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And Perez responded to the statistic, joking that she’d deliberately avoided becoming part of the sequence. “See this is why I stopped playing singles. I refuse to be a victim,” she said.
Perez, 28, has opted to focus on doubles this season. Ranked No.8 in the world in that format, she has played in semi finals in both the French and US Open, and reached the last eight at Wimbledon. She has never been past the first round at a Grand Slam in singles competition.
And a fan joked the 2020 Tokyo Olympian would now have to avoid playing mixed doubles in the Paris games this summer so that she could not draw Swiatek. “I’ve played Iga in mixed. I won games so not to worry haha,” she replied.
Another follower came up with the more extreme idea of Perez altering her surname. Humorously, the left hander said: “Oooo true. I should just marry someone (last name not beginning with P) and continue my singles career. Taking applications.”
Perez, whose highest individual ranking was No. 162 back in 2018, is into the third round already in the doubles at Roland Garros. Seeded second with American Nicole Melichar-Martinez, the pair have been handed a walkover in today’s scheduled second round match with Chinese duo Wang Xiyu and Sue Yuan.
