A year after losing to Simona Halep in just 45 minutes in the fourth round of Roland Garros, Polish 19-year-old Iga Swiatek served ruthless revenge by upsetting the Romanian 6-1 6-2 at the same stage of this year’s tournament.
The world No.54 Swiatek played spectacular tennis and gave absolutely no chances to the top-seeded Halep, who was in the midst of a career-best 17-match winning streak.
From start to finish Swiatek dictated the match. The only teenager in the fourth round won eight out of nine points at the net and hit 30 winners to 20 unforced errors, far outweighing Halep’s 12 winners and 15 unforced errors. Halep never even got a chance to develop her game, as Swiatek started attacking right from the start and pushed her opponent to the wall.
During the 68-minute match on Court Philippe Chatrier, Swiatek never faced a break point, while Halep faced as many as 14, fending off 10.
The 2018 French Open champion Halep was definitely top favorite for the title and even though Swiatek’s victory is not a huge surprise, the way she destroyed Halep definitely is.
Let me remind you that in the first round Swiatek knocked out last year’s finalist Marketa Vondrousova in just 63 minutes. When asked what she could have done differently, the world No.19 Vondrousova said that Swiatek played so good that nothing would have changed the result.
Swiatek’s quarterfinal opponent will be Italian qualifier Martina Travisan, who upset fifth seed Kiki Bertens 6-4 6-4 in a match played simultaneously on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Ms. Swiatek learned a lot from last years match. Bravo, Iga! Should be a great match between her and the Italian, Trevisan in the quarters.
Jim, Iga was so strong in this match. I think Simona was shocked. She expected a tough opponent, but Iga was out of this world.