The final of the women's draw at Roland Garros will pit the American Sofia Kenin (6th in the world) against the Polish Iga Swiatek (54th) on Saturday afternoon.

These two players, who had never reached this stage of the competition in Paris, respectively eliminated Petra Kvitova (11th) and Nadia Podoroska (131st).

It's an unusual autumn fortnight that leads to an unexpected ladies' final at Roland Garros: Sofia Kenin (6th), little experienced on clay, and Iga Swiatek (54th), inexperienced at 19, will compete on Saturday for the Suzanne-Lenglen cut.

Thursday afternoon, Iga Swiatek left no chance for the Argentinian qualifier Nadia Podoroska (131st), swept 6-2, 6-1 in 70 minutes stack, to afford her very first Grand Slam final.

Then Sofia Kenin was more regular and more solid on important points than Petra Kvitova (11th), beaten 6-4, 7-5 in just under two hours, to invite herself for the second time in the year in the major final, eight months after his coronation at the Australian Open.

A first for a Polish woman?

At 19, Iga Swiatek still has no title to his credit.

Before this 2020 edition of Roland Garros, the young Polish woman had only reached a final on the WTA circuit, in Lugano (Switzerland) in 2019. And she had never passed the knockout stages in the Grand Slam.

Iga Swiatek thus becomes the second Polish woman to advance to a Grand Slam final in the Open era (1968), the third overall.

Before her, only Jadwiga Jedrzejowska on three occasions (Wimbledon and US Open 1937, Roland Garros 1939), and Agnieszka Radwanska at Wimbledon in 2012, had reached the last step in the major tournament.

But never yet a Polish player has won.

Amazing Kenin on Clay

If Sofia Kenin has already triumphed in Grand Slams, we did not expect such a party on Parisian clay.

First because the young American (21) had only six successes on ocher since the start of her career (against eleven defeats), including a prestigious victory at the expense of Serena Williams in the third round of Roland-Garros 2019. But also because she did not play her first exchanges on the main circuit until 2018. 

In less than two weeks, Sofia Kenin, impeccable determination as usual, however doubled her total victories on clay to reach the final.

His last, Thursday against Petra Kvitova who had not lost a set, is one of his only two in the tournament in two sets.

Results of the 12th day of the Roland-Garros tournament played on Thursday:

Women's Singles (Semi-finals):

Iga Swiatek (POL) beats Nadia Podoroska (ARG) 6-2, 6-1


Sofia Kenin (USA / N.4) beats Petra Kvitová (CZE / N.7) 6-4, 7-5