Swiatek stuns top seed Halep to reach q-finals.
Polish teen packs off top seed Halep to reach last-eight
PARIS: Top seed and 2018 champion Simona Halep was sent crashing out of Roland Garros when Polish teenager Iga Swiatek stormed to a shock 6-1, 6-2 victory to reach the quarter-finals.
Swiatek, just 19 and ranked 54 in the world, will take on either Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan for a place in the semi-finals.
Trevisan registered a surprise 6-4, 6-4 victory over Dutch fifth seed Kiki Bertens to advance to the quarter-
The 26-year-old Trevisan, ranked 159, had not won a Grand Slam main draw match before this tournament.
“I am surprised I could do this,” admitted Swiatek after ending the 17-match winning streak of Halep who was the overwhelming favourite in the absence of 2019 champion Ashleigh Barty and US Open winner Naomi Osaka and the injury-enforced withdrawal of Serena Williams.
“I felt like I played a great match,” added Swiatek who will be playing in her first quarter-finals at the majors.
It was a stunning turnaround for the Pole who won just one game against Halep at the same stage in Paris last year, getting swept off court in just 45 minutes.
“Last year I wasn’t experienced enough, it was my first match in a big stadium so I was a little stressed.
“But I have made a lot of progress since then, playing girls like Simona, Naomi and Caroline Wozniacki. Now I can handle the pressure.”
Swiatek swept through the opening set in just 23 minutes, firing 17 winners to Halep’s four.
The teenager tightened her grip, breaking in the first game of the second set with Halep having to fight off four break points in the third game to stay afloat.
Swiatek’s assault continued against a player who arrived in Paris with clay court titles in Prague and Rome.
Halep, 29, saved five more break points in the fifth game but a weary forehand drifted wide and her Polish opponent was 4-1 up with the cushion of a double break.
She took victory on a second match point, ending the tie in 68 minutes on the back of 30 winners and not having allowed Wimbledon champion Halep a single break point.
Earlier, Novak Djokovic demolished Colombian lucky loser Daniel Galan to reach the Roland Garros last 16 for a record-equalling 11th successive year as unheralded Daniel Altmaier struck another blow for the underdogs.
World number one Djokovic swept past 153rd-ranked Galan 6-0, 6-3, 6-2, his most challenging moment coming when he helped groundstaff lay more clay on the surface of Court Philippe Chatrier after rain had made it treacherous.
Djokovic, who has dropped just 15 games in three rounds, took his 2020 record to 34 wins against one loss as he continues his bid to become the first man in half a century to win all four Grand Slam titles twice.
Next up is Russian 15th seed Karen Khachanov who put out Chile’s Cristian Garin.
The day after world number 239 Hugo Gaston and Sebastian Korda, ranked at 213, made the last 16, German qualifier Altmaier kept the sport’s outsiders in the headlines.
The world number 186 stunned seventh seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, becoming just the fourth man in 20 years to reach the round of 16 on his Grand Slam debut.
Victory also means an unexpected financial windfall for the 22-yearold who is guaranteed at least US$221,400 (RM922,000) having earned US$173,600 (RM723,000) in his entire six-year career.