Swiatek reflects on her ‘life-changing’ triumph
IGA Swiatek is ready to embrace her new-found stardom after becoming Poland’s first singles grand slam champion with a quite sensational run at the French Open.
The rock and roll fan has blasted her way through the draw and swept to the trophy without dropping a set, her 6-4, 6-1 victory over Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the final the icing on the cake.
When her last whipped forehand flew past Kenin, Swiatek put her hand over her mouth in disbelief before heading off to celebrate with her support team in the stands.
The only time she was flustered was during her on-court interview, saying: “I don’t know what’s going on. It’s overwhelming. It’s crazy.”
At 54 in the world, 19-year-old
Swiatek is the lowest-ranked woman ever to win the French Open and the youngest since Monica Seles in 1992.
Her success has been celebrated widely back home, while former greats have been falling over themselves to predict a glowing future.
Swiatek is the latest young woman to win a slam title – seven of the last eight have been claimed by players aged 23 or under – and most have found the subsequent pressure and expectation hard to deal with.
The teenager said: “I’m just proud of myself. I’ve done a great job the past two weeks. I wasn’t expecting to win this trophy. It’s amazing for me. It’s a life-changing experience. I need to come back home first, see what’s going on in Poland. I know it’s going to be crazy. I think I’m going to get used to that, it’s not going to be a problem. I didn’t have problem with attention, people surrounding me.
“I really appreciate all the support I got during the whole two weeks. Even though I wasn’t on my phone and wasn’t answering every person, I know the whole country was behind me and they all believed in me. I knew it was going to be tough in the final. I didn’t want to stress about it, so I just enjoyed the moment.
Defeated Kenin said: “She played a really good match. She’s really hot right now, playing some really great tennis. I’m not going to use this as an excuse, but my leg was not the best. It’s obviously disappointing.”
Rafael Nadal swept aside Novak Djokovic to win the French Open for the 13th time yesterday and draw level with Roger Federer’s record of 20 grand slam titles.
The two great rivals now sit atop the men’s all-time standings after Nadal’s quite brilliant 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory over the world number one.
The Spaniard has been dominant for so long at Roland Garros that it seemed nothing he did could surprise, but to produce such a performance against a man who had not lost a completed match all season was breathtaking.
Having started the tournament by saying the autumnal conditions, and heavier balls, would make this the most difficult French Open to win, Nadal ended it without losing a set.