Why Swiatek scares the elite

Iga Swiatek marches into the final of the French Open without even coming close to losing a set. The dominance of the 19-year-old is frightening.

When the Italian Lorenzo Giustino scored the match point in his first round win against Corentin Moutet from France after a five set thriller, the music box showed six hours and five minutes.

It was the longest match of this year’s French Open and the second longest in the history of the tournament. (Schedule and results of the French Open 2020)

Iga Swiatek stood on the court even longer, exactly seven hours. Not in one match, however, but in her entire winning streak through the women’s singles competition, which washed her into the final by a 6-2, 6-1 win over the Argentine qualifier Nadia Podoroska.

Swiatek sweeps Halep

She finished her six previous opponents, including such illustrious names as the recently regained Eugenie Bouchard and Simona Halep, who was seeded 1, without a single set loss. In total, the 19-year-old lost only 23 games in this tournament. Her worst set was a 6-4 in round two against Su-Wie Hsieh from Taiwan. Even Halep sent her home 6-1, 6-2 in the round of sixteen.

What makes Swiatek’s performance at Roland Garros even more remarkable is that she is also in the semi-finals in the doubles with her partner Nicole Melichar from the USA – also without losing a single set.

It is one of the most dominant performances ever at the Grand Slam in Paris. With powerful and aggressive tennis, it amazes not only the experts.

“I am already surprised. Before the tournament, I never thought I would play so well here,” the Polish player said after her victory in the semi-finals on Thursday. “On the other hand, I knew that if I ever made it to a Grand Slam final, it would be in Roland Garros. I love it here. It is a dream come true.”

Fibak: “Iga plays with everyone like with juniors”.

Not only are the statistics extraordinary, but also the way of playing is brimming with dominance. “Iga plays with everyone as with juniors. And the gap between Iga and her last two rivals (Martina Trevisan and Podoroska, editor’s note) was huge,” Wojciech Fibak, two-time quarter-finalist of the French Open, sums it up in the Polish sports newspaper Sport.