Swiatek and Paolini, 2024 Roland-Garros finalists, both come through their openers in straight sets
Swiatek and Paolini, 2024 Roland-Garros finalists, both come through their openers in straight sets early on Monday, Day 2 of Roland-Garros 2026.
Iga Swiatek, Roland-Garros 2026 | © Michael Baucher, PsNewz
Iga Świątek, the four-time Roland-Garros champion (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024), opened her bid for a fifth title with a 6-1, 6-2 dismantling of Australian Emerson Jones on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Monday – and the woman she beat in the 2024 final, Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, came through her own first round on a different court in the same afternoon, beating Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 7-5, 6-3. The pair would not meet again before the semi-finals in 2026.
Iga Swiatek is the first player in the Open Era to reach the second round at all first 25 women’s singles Grand Slam events of a decade and the fourth including men’s qingles draws.
Świątek’s record at this tournament is now 42-3, the kind of number that belongs alongside the Open Era’s most dominant runs on a single court. She arrived in Paris off a clay swing that, by her own admission, had not been a coronation – Rome had been cold and the ball heavy, she said afterwards, and the conditions on Chatrier on Monday felt like a different surface. She made the adjustment in the first game.
First matches are always also for getting used to the conditions and everything. I’m really happy with the way I played.
“I’m just really happy to play on this court,” Świątek said. “First matches are always also for getting used to the conditions and everything. I’m really happy with the way I played today, tactically, and I felt the ball good. So it was a good first match for sure.”
Asked whether four titles on the same court spared her the work of feeling her way back into it each year, the 24-year-old pushed back. “Nothing comes easy. Honestly I feel like with more titles it’s even a bit harder because everyone expects you to be ready always and play perfectly. You need to stay humble and not take anything for granted and work your way from the beginning of the tournament to play good. Especially after Rome where it was pretty cold and much more heavy, the court seems totally different here. You need to adjust for sure.”
Jones, the 17-year-old Australian making her Roland-Garros main-draw debut, never settled into the contest. Świątek broke five times in a one hour, four-minute opening match and gave up only three games. The Pole moves into a second-round meeting with Czech Sara Bejlek, who beat Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday.
Paolini, on Court Simonne-Mathieu played the calmer version of the match-up the brackets had projected. The Italian, who has battled a foot injury through the clay swing and arrived in Paris well short of her 2024 form, redirected Yastremska’s pace cleanly and broke decisively in both sets to take the match in straight sets. It was her 12th win of 2026 and the steadiest she has looked since her surprise run to the title match here two years ago. She will face the winner of an outsider match in the second round.
Two days in at Roland-Garros 2026, the women’s seeds have lost two of their own: Clara Tauson (No. 21) to Daria Snigur on Sunday, and Liudmila Samsonova (No. 20) to Jil Teichmann on Monday. On Sunday, Mirra Andreeva – the highest-ranked woman in action on Day 1 – both came through their openers cleanly. Belinda Bencic, Marta Kostyuk, Sorana Cirstea, Hailey Baptiste, Marie Bouzková and Xinyu Wang all advanced as well.
