French Open 2020: Iga Swiatek’s constant show at Roland Garros suggests he’s here to stay

Iga Swiatek defeated Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the French Open title. FFT / AP

“Maybe it had to be that way. Another loser will win a Grand Slam. In women’s tennis, he’s so open now that it’s crazy. “

Iga Swiatek’s words after taking the French Open title capture the true essence of women’s tennis at this moment. While young men, for the most part, struggle to come out of the shadow of Novak Djokovic-Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer, women haven’t had that problem. On Saturday, Swiatek became the latest in a growing list of young people to claim a Grand Slam title. The fact that she faced another young player on the block, Sofia Kenin, justified the strength of the WTA Tour.

Swiatek became the ninth Major Champion for the first time in the last 14 Grand Slam titles. Seven of the last eight Grand Slam titles have been won by players under the age of 23. All but one of the Roland Garros titles in the last decade have been won by a player under the age of 30 and now we have a 19-year-old. . And how well he has played this last fortnight.

The Pole left without dropping a set and only conceded 28 games for an astonishing level of dominance. At World No. 54, even with Kenin and Petra Kvitova in the picture, both Grand Slam champions, Swiatek was the bookmaker favorite. In fairness to her, she had earned that right. She passed a variety of opponents: Hsieh Su-wei’s diverse range of shots, flyers Martina Trevisan and Nadia Podoroska, and most of all, tournament favorite and first seed Simona Halep. The Romanian made two unforced errors in the first set and still lost 1-6. Against Kenin, that ruthless form continued. Even more surprising, he kept his focus throughout the match.

“My girl here winning the French Open,” Naomi Osaka wrote in an Instagram story with a picture of Swiatek serving for the match. And at some points in the second set, Swiatek’s approach could be compared to Osaka’s in their victory at the 2018 US Open. Even as Kenin took a medical break and a break to tend to his left thigh, causing an interruption of For at least eight minutes, Swiatek kept his eyes on the prize and never lost control.

“I think I was mentally consistent. I just wanted to play aggressive like I did in the previous rounds. I felt like today was stressful for me. I don’t really know what made the difference, ”he said while speaking to Marion Bartoli on the court.

Sofia Kenin lost the last six games to Iga Swiatek in the final of the French Open. AP

If Kenin found a measure to counter Kvitova’s power in the semifinal, he found no answer for Swiatek. As in his previous matches, Iga delivered a mix of powerful forehand groundstrokes with superior spin, surprise shots, great returns and covered every inch of the court. It didn’t help Kenin that the injury hampered his mobility after spending more time on the court.

“I’m not going to use this as an excuse, but my leg was obviously not the best,” he said. “I have to get some rest and hope my leg improves.”

“I had the problem in some of my games. I had to record. I saw the physio and everything, so I was doing everything I could,” explained the American.

“Today after the first set, I felt like it was so tight that I couldn’t move. So I had to call the coach. It just got worse.”

Having said all that, Kenin credited Swiatek. “He played great tennis. He has a really good forehand on the line. A really good backhand on the line.”

Iga Swiatek landed seven backhand winners in her victory against Sofia Kenin in the French Open final. AP

Against Halep, Swiatek hit 13 forehand winners, 10 backhand against Trevisan, 8 forehand against Podoroska and against Kenin, both wings were equally dominant: 7 backhand winners and 8 forehand.

Going into that, Kenin had said that nerves would be a major factor. Even if they were, they never made themselves visible. It took Swiatek eight minutes to rush to a 3-0 lead, including a love lock to start. A couple of nervous games allowed Kenin to restore parity, but he lost his way at the end to concede the set.

The second was a bigger test of Swiatek’s mental toughness with an early break, a stop-and-go flow and then the finale that would induce the anxiety of the best in the business. And yet it ended in a way fitting to describe these past two weeks for Iga: with a forehand that left his opponent stranded. Six games in a row, 24 of the last 30 points to wrap up your first appearance in the Grand Slam final.

For a tournament that saw a lot of new names, surprises and surprises, it is only fitting that the title is for someone playing only their seventh Grand Slam. Swiatek’s goal now is to be consistent like the ‘big 3’ in men’s tennis. Based on the show at Court Philippe-Chatrier, it won’t be a surprise if you continue to collect more Slams and on different surfaces, because you have the game for it.