Polish teen Iga Swiatek becomes new Grand Slam champion

PARIS: Iga Swiatek on Saturday became the first Polish player to win a Grand Slam as she beat Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-1. Swiatek, 19, is the youngest French Open champion since Rafael Nadal in 2005, who was also aged 19.

After racing to a 3-0 lead in the first set, Swiatek was reeled back in as Australian Open champion Kenin began to find her range on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The teenager again secured the break and held a set point on serve, only to be broken at 5-3. She however made up for the missed chance when she broke the American's serve for the third time to secure the opening set after 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.

But it was the only time she would lead all set. Following an off-court injury time-out to have her leg re-strapped, Kenin was unable to break the Pole's momentum as she powered through the second set in just 31 minutes. IANS

More about Iga Swiatek:

Age: 19

Nation: Poland

WTA ranking: 54 (Highest ranking: 48)

Seeding: Unseeded

Grand Slam titles: 1 (French Open 2020)

ROAD TO FINAL

First round: 15-Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic) 6-1 6-2

Second round: Hsieh Su-wei (Taiwan) 6-1 6-4

Third round: Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) 6-3 6-2

Fourth round: 1-Simona Halep (Romania) 6-1 6-2

Quarter-finals: Martina Trevisan (Italy) 6-3 6-1

Semi-finals: Nadia Podoroska (Argentina) 6-2 6-1

EARLY LIFE

*Born in Warsaw. Her father Tomasz is a former Olympic rower, who competed in the men's quadruple sculls event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

*Started playing tennis in an attempt to emulate her older sister Agata, who competed briefly on the junior circuit.

*Swiatek helped Poland lift the Junior Fed Cup title in 2016 before winning Junior Wimbledon in 2018, the same year she secured the gold medal with Kaja Juvan in doubles at the Youth Olympics.

CAREER TO DATE

*She began her professional career on the ITF Circuit in 2016 and won all seven singles finals she contested over the next two years.

*Made her first Grand Slam main draw appearance at the 2019 Australian Open and defeated Ana Bogdan in the opening round before losing to Camila Giorgi.

*Had her breakthrough later that year, reaching her first WTA final at the Ladies Open in Lugano. Despite losing to Polona Hercog, she entered the top 100 for the first time.

*Advanced to the fourth round of the 2019 French Open in just her second major tournament, losing to defending champion Simona Halep.

*Defeated American Kenin on Saturday to become the youngest women's French Open champion since Monica Seles in 1992.

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