In just 1 hour and 10 minutes, Swatek, a 19-year-old 130-day Polish girl, swept another big dark horse, Argentina's Podolóska, 6-2, 6-1 in the French Open women's singles semifinals, becoming the youngest player to reach the French Open final since Cristels (17 years and 364 days) in 2001, and Swatek was also the first Polish player in 81 years to reach the final of the French Open. After creating a string of history, Svatek himself felt amazing: "I was actually a little surprised, before the start of the game, I didn't think I could have such a good performance here. On the other hand, I also know that if I can reach the final of a Grand Slam one day, it will be the French Open. I'm really, really happy, that's what it's like to have a dream come true. ”
ESSENTIALLY SPORTS: After the 2020 French Open fairy tale, Swataker is approaching the top 20.
People don't doubt Svatek's determination and courage to achieve her dreams, people just lament the way and speed with which she realized her dreams. This is only the second time in her career at the age of 19 that Svatek has played in the French Open, and there is no shortage of strong opponents on her way to the top. In the first round, the Polish girl met last year's runner-up Wandrowsova; in the second round, her opponent was Chinese Taipei's Xie Shuwei; in the third and fourth rounds, her opponents were Canadian beauty Bouchard and the Tournament's No. 2 seed Halep; in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, she encountered two consecutive black horses, Trevisan and Porto Roska. However, regardless of the ranking, strength, and playing style of opponents facing each other across the net, Swatak can win in its own way, with a powerful serve, connecting an unusually rapid front-hand continuous attack, and solving the battle within two hours.
WTA Insider: The last French Open to win the open with a set was Justin Henin in 2007
As for his style of play on clay, Swatak once summed it up this way, "A strong serve, a quick spin, a backhand attack smashing on the line." On the way to the final, Swatak has always maintained her own "bang bang" rhythm, she has not lost a set, 6 games down the blast of 150 winning points, an average of 25 points per game, of which the fastest winning points reached a staggering speed of 173 kilometers per hour, which has reached or even exceeded the serve speed of some players. After being eliminated by Swatak in the fourth round of the French Open women's singles, Halep's words spoke to all the players who lost to Swatak, "She won completely by her own excellent performance, she played incredibly, the range of movement covered the whole field, every shot was very strong, I did my best, there was no way to do better, she completely dominated the game." 」 ”
WTA official website: Halep confessed after losing to Svatek: "Her performance is unbelievable. ”
For the French Open, people have the stereotype that on the gravel clay court, the players compete in a full range of line combinations, rotations and sliding skills, while the audience applauds the exquisite skills and tenacious fighting spirit they showed in the multi-shot battle, but Svatek subverted all this, her fierce attack made opponents and spectators breathless, the Polish girl won all the way, unstoppable to reach the French Open women's singles final, she will compete with Kenning, who is two years older than herself, no matter what the result, Her trip to the French Open was a success. While marveling at Swataker's performance, people are also willing to spend more time to learn about the rising star of the world women's tennis world.
Iga Svatek was born on May 31, 2001 in Warsaw, Poland. Her father, Thomas Swataker, was a former rower who competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Iga also has an older sister who is three years older than herself, named Agata. Under the influence of her father, her sister Agata took the lead in learning to play tennis. Ija Svatek then followed her sister's example and began to pick up the racket, her idea was simple, that is, to try to beat her sister. Since then, Ija Svatek's competitive nature has been thoroughly stimulated, she never hides her love of competition, and believes that this is the key factor that supports her all the way down, "I often lost to my sister in competitions when I was a child, but every time I lost it gave me extra motivation, I am a person who likes to compete, this is not limited to tennis, if I am engaged in swimming or other sports, I will also be full of competition, I feel very good at competition, this is my natural nature." 」 ”
However, her sister Agata did not give her sister a chance to beat herself, she began to participate in the ITF Junior Tour in 2013, but it did not take long to choose to hang up due to repeated injuries. Retiring early with a record of total victory over his sister, Agatha also left the huge stage to Iga Svatek. As a teenager, Svatek has won a number of awards, winning the 2018 French Open Junior Doubles Title and Wimbledon Junior Singles Title, and partnering Kaya Yuwan at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games the same year to win the gold medal in women's doubles.
Since 2016, Svatek has been competing in senior professional competitions, and last year's competition in Lugano, Switzerland, she reached the final of the WTA Pro Tour for the first time, and finally lost to Slovenian star Herkog in three sets. In May last year, Svatek participated in the French Open for the first time in her career, and as a result, she defeated France's Janicejevich, China's Wang Qiang, and Puerto Rico's Puig to reach the round of 16. In the 4th round of the women's singles, the Polish girl lost to Halep and stopped in the round of 16. No one expected that more than a year later, also in the 4th round of the French Open, Swatak would achieve the perfect revenge against Halep. Speaking about the game after the game, Swatek showed sanity and maturity beyond his peers, "I knew I could play better, I could finally show my best level. So I think it's positive because I can progress in the process. I only held out for 45 minutes last year before losing to Halep, which was an incentive to try to play better. ”
Svatek's french open this year was not without warning, and the 19-year-old lost to Azarenka in the previous US Open matches. After the match, the Belarusian star spoke highly of Svatek's attitude to the game and the advanced nature of her playing style, "I was really surprised, she played very well, I think she is very talented. Her playing style is not only gorgeous, but also very clever. Her movements are good and her serve is varied. I was very impressed with her attitude on the pitch, she worked the pitch to find a way to cope, and her attitude was also very positive. Unlike many female professional tennis players who have a Tiger Dad coach, Swatak has shed his dependence on his father, "My father doesn't mind not traveling with me, because I also need my own space, I prefer to travel with my team so that I can focus more on the game, and when accompanied by my father, I naturally miss home, which makes it impossible for me to adjust to the status of the tour." 」 ”
Svatek's independent personality has been nurtured, and thanks to her wide range of interests, her world is constantly packed with many other new things in addition to tennis. Still a student, Swartec copes with the pressure of the competition and the heavy schoolwork burden, but she does not give up any opportunity to absorb knowledge, after putting down the homework book, she will switch to the state of rock music fans, Svatek has a very large record collection in her home, and her favorite musicians include Guns and Roses, AC/DC and Pink Floyd. As a post-00s, Swatek loves the retro hip-hop style loved by the post-70s and post-80s generations, which is as maverick as she played fast attacks on clay. Swataker doesn't mind sharing her daily life with her fans, and she currently has more than 120,000 followers on social media.
In the past, when people mention polish tennis, they first think of the "best batting" queen A. Radwanska. Last year, Swarteck took over the mantle of A. Radwanska and won the Best Batting Award of 2019. But the Polish girl was not satisfied with this, and she gained strength from the constant exchanges with A La while running wild on the French Open. Defeating Kenning in the final battle and conquering Roland Garros at the age of 19 was the coolest thing for Swatec!