Simona Halep upset in French Open by Iga Swiatek
By Christopher Clarey
ROLAND GARROS -The French Open women’s tournament, already a spinning roulette wheel of upsets and unlikely success stories, got its first genuine shock on Sunday (4) when unseeded Polish youngster Iga Swiatek upset No. 1 seed Simona Halep 6-1, 6-2 in the fourth round.
Swiatek, 19, won just one game against Halep in the fourth round in Paris last year, losing in just 45 minutes. But she was the dominant force on the red clay on Sunday, dictating play with her whipping forehand and forcing Halep to lunge repeatedly to keep pace.
“Even I am surprised that I can do that,” Swiatek said after closing out the victory and burying her head in a towel in her courtside seat.
The rout was one of the most lopsided defeats of the 29-year-old Halep’s career. She had won 17 straight matches in the disrupted 2020 season and 13 straight on clay. She skipped the US Open because of concerns about travelling during the coronavirus pandemic, and trained almost exclusively on clay in Romania during the hiatus. She returned after a six-month break to win titles on the surface at the Prague Open and Italian Open.
On Friday (2), Halep overwhelmed Amanda Anisimova, the American teenager who had upset her at last year’s French Open, dominating her 6-0, 6-1. Halep appeared to be in rare form and headed for another title run, but she ended up losing to another teen at this year’s Roland Garros.
“I’m not going to ruin the whole year just for a match.” Halep said. “Of course it’s not easy to take it, but I’m used to some tough moments in this career. So I will have a chocolate and I will be better tomorrow.”
Less than an hour after Halep’s defeat, Martina Trevisan, an Italian qualifier, opened up the draw even further by upsetting No. 5 seed Kiki Bertens 6-4, 6-4 in the fourth round. Trevisan, ranked 159, already had defeated American teenager Coco Gauff and No. 20 seed Maria Sakkari in the tournament. She finished in style against Bertens, whose best surface is clay, whipping a backhand topspin lob winner that landed on the baseline. Trevisan did not clearly see it strike the clay but she knew she had closed out the victory by the disappointment in Bertens’ face.
While Halep and Swiatek played on Philippe Chatrier Court under a closed roof because of the threat of rain, Trevisan and Bertens played outdoors on Suzanne Lenglen Court in often swirling wind. But Trevisan, playing in her first main draw at the French Open, managed the moment and the conditions.
“I’m living a dream, it’s true,” Trevisan said. “I came here two weeks ago to play my qualifying, but today I’m here in the quarterfinals. So oh my God, I can’t believe it.”
While Halep was upset, Rafael Nadal, the 12-time French Open men’s champion, had no such trouble against 20-year-old qualifier Sebastian Korda of the United States. Nadal won 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in the sunshine against Korda, the son of former French Open finalist Petr Korda and former WTA Tour player Regina Rajchrtova.
Swiatek, the 2018 Wimbledon junior champion, played high-risk tennis in the cool, heavy conditions, finishing with 30 winners and 20 unforced errors. It was quite a contrast with her lopsided loss to Halep on the same court in 2019. She was the steamroller this time: winning in just 1 hour, eight minutes.
“Right now I’m more experienced; I can handle the pressure,” she said. “I feel like I’ve grown up to play a match like that and to win it.”
-New York Times