Unseeded Teenager Iga Swiatek became the first-ever Polish Grand Slam singles title winner on Saturday.
Swiatek defeated American fourth seed Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-1 to become the youngest women’s French Open champion since 1992.
Swiatek wins 2020 French Open
The 19-year-old Swiatek, at 54 the second-lowest ranked women’s Roland Garros finalist in the modern era, is the ninth first-time major champion in the past 14 Grand Slams.
Swiatek is still in high school having put her education on hold to give professional tennis a crack and she said ahead of the final that she won’t be making any decisions about here future just yet.
“Right now it’s going to be hard to make a decision to go back to studying because I feel like really I can achieve big things. I just want to focus on that,” said Swiatek.
“But I’m only 19, so a lot can change during a few years. We are going to see. Maybe I’m going to be, like, hungry for knowledge. Really I’m not going to make decision right now.”
Swiatek, who did not drop a set throughout the claycourt tournament, is the youngest winner at Roland Garros since Monica Seles 28-years ago.
The Polish teenager raced into a 3-0 lead for the loss of just three points before Kenin started to get into the game, but the Pole would bag the opening set on her opponent’s serve after another trade of breaks.
The sixth-ranked Kenin, trying to become the first woman to capture two Slams in the same season since Angelique Kerber in 2016, broke to begin the second set.
But an undeterred Swiatek responded the following game, smacking a backhand down the line to break once more before holding with ease to go 2-1 up.
The American would call for a medical timeout to receive treatment on her taped left thigh, but she could not slow the momentum of her opponent as Swiatek broke for her serve for the fifth time.
‘It just had to be like that’
Swiatek won the next eight points to storm to the brink of an epic title win at 5-1, and then secured the historic triumph with a powerful cross-court forehand on her first match point.
“Maybe it just had to be like that, another underdog had to win a Grand Slam. In women’s tennis right now it’s crazy,” said Swiatek, who will rise to 17th on the WTA Rankings after her victory.
“I don’t know what’s going on. It’s overwhelming for me, it’s crazy.”
“Two years ago I won a junior Grand Slam (at Wimbledon) and now I’m here,” she added. “It feels like such a short time.”
