Iga Swiatek, the shredder of the women's table at Roland-Garros

Iga Swiatek will play her first Grand Slam final, at 19, at Roland-Garros 2020. -

• The final of Roland-Garros opposes this Saturday Sofia Kenin to Iga Swiatek.

• Swiatek tumbles there like a plane after having beaten all his opponents since the start of the fortnight.

• The 19-year-old Polish woman, for whom this final will be a great first, impressed everyone with the variety of her game and her serenity in the face of the event.

At Roland-Garros,

Small event, Friday, on the Lenglen!

Iga Swiatek lost a set (and even the match, eventually).

So yes, it was double, but it still must have looked a little weird à la Polonaise.

It had never happened to him in ten games played since the start of Roland Garros.

She will get over it.

Because what interests him the most, like us, is his final on Saturday, in singles, against Sofia Kenin.

Swiatek, 54th player in the world, tumbles there like a plane.

Not only did the 19-year-old not leave a single set on the way, then, but she literally crushed all her opponents, yet not penguins.

It started with Marketa Vondrousova, finalist here last year and coming out of a semi-final in Rome, swept 6-1, 6-2.

And it didn't stop anymore.

Eugenie Bouchard, former semi-finalist Porte d'Auteuil, Simona Halep, seeded number 1 and winner of the tournament in 2018, Martina Trevisan and Nadia Podoroska, outsiders in full flurry, did not do better.

“Surreal! ... Swiatek is in the final after a new demonstration via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/tycrBqAp4E

- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) October 8, 2020

Some figures to illustrate the massacre: Her longest match lasted 1h18 (against Trevisan in the quarterfinals), she only conceded 23 games (LESS THAN FOUR per game on average), her points ended in less than five exchanges on average and she has never committed more than 20 unforced errors per match (against generally a big thirty for her opponent in the final, for example).

This is what her victims of the fortnight said about her, a few minutes after leaving the court with red cheeks:

• Vondrousova:

  “She was just too good today!

  She didn't give me any luck, she was just better than me.

  Could I have resisted better?

  No, really, I don't think so.

  "

• Bouchard:

  “She's an excellent player.

  She put a lot of pressure on from the start.

  That's what good players do, and she did it a lot better than me.

  "

• Halep:

  “She's really strong when she can take the ball below the shoulder and get into the field well.

  That's what she did, and she found some amazing angles!

  Well done to her, she played really well, she covered all the ground.

  His balls were strong and on the baseline.

  I could never get out of it because she fully dominated the game.

  She was very aggressive.

  I accept this defeat.

  "

• Trevisan:

  “She is a player who is on her way.

  She has a lot of positive energies.

  "

  
  

The players are not the only ones to be captivated.

Nathalie Dechy, ex-world number 11, told us on Wednesday that she had passed by chance on court number 7 during the first round of the Polonaise.

She hadn't regretted it.

“It was Vondrousova opposite, and she cut it into slices, breathed the one who is now part of the organization of the tournament.

She is bluffing.

She has a great ball quality, and she is a beautiful athlete.

She is powerful, she gives off something.

And then she has no qualms about treading on her opponent, be it Halep, Trevisan or whatever.

"

Sacred phenomenon that this player, whose name returned among the hopes of women's tennis for two or three years but that nobody saw hatch suddenly like that.

Not even the only Frenchwoman (out of four attempts) to have beaten her on the circuit.

“I didn't even remember it!

", Laughs at the end of the line Marine Partaud.

It must be said that it was a little over three years ago.

The current 490th in the world, 26, won in the first round of the Le Havre tournament.

“She was 16 years old, it was a little junior who arrived, nobody knew her but she was already playing very well and she had caused me problems [victory in three sets after losing the first], recalls Partaud.

I saw her a lot afterwards in other tournaments, especially in Montreux where she won last year.

She didn't lose much on earth, but from there to saying that a year later she would be in Roland's final, it's crazy!

"

Are you not entertained?

😁 @ iga_swiatek #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/iecjfnfdXp

- Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) October 8, 2020

Circumstances helped her, though, with five top 10 players absent and a season truncated by confinement.

Some players have not yet recovered.

Swiatek took the opportunity to take her baccalaureate in Warsaw.

“I didn't train for two months, I studied day and night.

I finished high school, and then, then, I did the preseason, ”she says with her disarming naturalness.

The daughter of Tomasz, a former rower who took part in the Seoul Olympics in 1988, carries this simplicity around in all circumstances.

You can ask her any question at a press conference, she won't swing any of it.

These last two weeks, she spoke there, in bulk, of her studies, her family, music, psychology, the Olympics, balls, the men's tournament.

We were not far from having his opinion on the next American elections.

The Halep lesson

Swiatek is just happy to be there.

Raised on earth, she has always put Roland Garros above all other Grand Slam tournaments.

Even though it was at Wimbledon that she won her only Junior Major.

“I like playing on clay, and I've always been struck by the whole site,” she explains.

I loved walking the aisles when I was a junior, seeing big stars play.

I love this tournament.

"

For her first in the big league, last year, she took a huge slap against Simona Halep in the round of 16.

A 6-1, 6-0 defeat in 40 minutes of play, from which she learned a great lesson.

“I was very stressed when I arrived on the court.

I learned to better manage the pressure, ”she explained after her resounding revenge last Sunday.

The Polish found the recipe, exposed after her semi-final on Thursday: “I played this match as if it was the first round, so as not to stress and keep this aggressive way of playing.

"

Our Roland-Garros file

The idea is basic.

It was still necessary to succeed in putting it in place.

Today, she exudes a mastery of her mind-blowing emotions for her age.

The result of a long work with her psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, to whom she paid tribute after her victory against Halep: “Being mentally tough is one of the things that matters most in tennis.

Anyone can play at a high level, but those who are mentally strong, who can handle the pressure better, are ultimately the best players.

I have always wanted to evolve in this direction.

Daria is the best for me, she understands me from A to Z and knows me like the back of her hand.

She helps me be smarter.

I now understand my feelings, it helps me to be more confident.

"

It remains to be confirmed in a Grand Slam final.

Certainly the most complicated thing, but it is within its reach, believes Marine Partaud.

"I admire his relaxation," said the one who takes advantage of the fortnight to try out commenting on the site and the FranceTV Sport application.

And not only.

“What I like about her is that she has a game that denotes 80% of the girls in the top 100, who are big who hit hard,” she continues.

She's not necessarily impressive but she uses the court very well, the zones, the changes of pace with cushioning.

It's also interesting as she doesn't lose ground, she takes the ball early and never lets her opponent breathe.

In short, "she is flawless".

On this tournament, anyway.

And then ?

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