BEVERLY HILLS, October 10, (THEWILL) – Iga Swiatek has crowned a dreamy two weeks to win her maiden Grand Slam title. In Saturday’s women’s finals, she beat American fourth seed Sofia Kenin in straight sets in the Roland-Garros Open.
The unseeded 19-year-old withstood relentless ball striking from the American to prevail 6-4, 6-1. With the victory, Swiatek became the first Grand Slam champion from Poland.
But that is not the only record to her name in this historic win. Swiatek is also the first woman since Justine Henin in 2007 to clinch the title without conceding a set. To add to that, she becomes only the second unseeded champion at Roland-Garros, after Jelena Ostapenko three years ago. Much like Ostapenko, it also marked her first tour title.
As a reward for her performances throughout the clay Open, Swiatek will rise from her current place of No.54 in the rankings to world No.17.
Her excitement was captured in her words. “I’m so happy and I’m so glad that my family was here finally and I don’t know, it’s just overwhelming for me. Two years ago, I won the junior Grand Slam [at Roland-Garros] and now I’m here.
“It feels like such a short time. I’m just overwhelmed. Thanks for cheering. It was such an amazing final. I was just mentally consistent, and I just wanted to play aggressive as in previous rounds. Today was really stressful for me so it was kind of hard.
“Maybe it had to be that another underdog had to win a grand slam in women’s tennis right now. It’s crazy.”
The Pole set the pace in the first set racing to a 3-0 lead. However, she was reeled back in as her Australian Open champion opponent Kenin began to find her range on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
But, the teenager again secured another break and held a set point on serve, only to be broken at 5-3. Fortunately, that missed chance was not costly as she broke the American’s serve for the third time to secure the opening set in about 50 minutes.
Kenin had fought through four three-set matches from her six matches coming into the final, including twice from a set down, and began the second set with a break. It appeared to THEWILL that she could also force this one into another three-setter.
But it was the only time she would lead all sets. Following an off-court injury time-out to have her leg re-strapped, Kenin was unable to break the Pole’s momentum as Swiatek powered through the second set in just 31 minutes.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
