The French Open women’s tournament, already a wild ride of upsets and unlikely success stories, was completely disrupted on Sunday when unseeded Polish youngster Iga Svetek upset No. 1 seed Simona Halep in the fourth round 6-1, 6-2.
The 19-year-old Svitek, who won a game against Halep in the fourth round in Paris last year, lost in just 45 minutes. But she was so strong on the red clay on Sunday, she suggested playing with her whipping forehand and forcing Halep to limp repeatedly to maintain speed.
It was a spectacular root and was the most unbeaten defeat of 29-year-old Halep’s career. He interrupted the 2020 season and won 17 straight matches on clay. He left the United States Open due to concerns about traveling during the coronavirus epidemic, and trained mainly on soil during interruptions. She returned after a six-month hiatus to win surface titles at the Prague Open and the Italian Open.
On Friday, Halep defeated American teenager Amanda Anisimova, who harassed her at the French Open last year, this time dominating her 6-0, 6-1 this time. Halep appeared in rare form and advanced to the second title race, but she ended up losing to another teenager at this year’s Roland Garros.
“I’m not going to waste an entire year just for one match.” Halep said. “Of course it’s not easy to take, but I use some of the hardest moments of this career. So I will have chocolate and I will be better tomorrow. ”
Less than an hour after Halep’s defeat, Italian qualifier Martina Travis opened the women’s draw in the fourth round by defeating No. 5 seed Kiki Bertens 4-4, 6–4. Travis, ranked 159th, defeated American teenager Coco Goff and Maria Sakkari, ranked 20th, in the tournament. She finished in style against Bertens, whose best surface is clay, whipping the backhand topspin lobe winner that landed on the baseline.
“I’m living a dream, it’s true,” Travis said. “I came here two weeks ago to play my qualifying, but today I am here in the quarterfinals. So oh my God, I can’t believe it. “
The French Open, which has postponed its traditional dates to May and June due to a health crisis, has been missing key female players from the start. After last year’s singles champion Ashley Barty, who still ranks No. 1, decided to leave the rest of the 2020 season, Australia are leading the epidemic at home in Brisbane, Australia. Naomi Osaka, who won the United States Open last month, withdrew from Roland Garros, explaining that the two-week gap did not give her enough time to recover from a hamstring injury.
But after eight days of play, the women’s tournament is now missing most of its leading players, including Serena Williams, who withdrew from Achilles’ tendon injury before the second round. Halep’s defeat confirms that the first-time French Open will be the women’s champion and will leave third-seeded Elena Svitolina as the remaining women’s seed, but Svitolina has yet to reach the Grand Slam singles final. Only four seeds out of 32 remain in the draw: No. 4 Sofia Canin, No. 7 Petra Kvitova and No. 30 Ons Jabeur.
This year the U.S. Not a single quarter-finalist from the Open is in the argument yet; Canin and Kvitova both lost in the fourth round in New York.
Svitek’s father, Tomasz, was an Olympic rover who competed for Poland at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul. Her last name is regularly mispronounced on the women’s tennis circuit: she politely suggests a shwe-on-tech.
But he has definitely made his name on Sunday. “I also wonder if I can do that,” Sweetke said after closing the victory and burying his head on the towel of his courtside seat.
Svitek played high risk tennis in cold, extreme conditions, ending with the 0 winners and 20 unforced errors.
Halep won the 2018 French Open and followed suit by beating Williams to win Wimbledon in 2019. Although she could certainly have played better on Sunday – she often failed to hit her balls with deep depths, which led to the removal of the Switech tea – Halep did not play badly. Above all, the 54th-ranked Switech became a big event: competing with a real swagger.
“He has all the deposits,” Halep said. “She played incredible today, and she was everywhere. She hit all the balls: very strong, very powerful. It was a little cold, and I couldn’t stay at my best, but, yes, he played really well and that was his match today. “
