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In the Roland-Garros final, the American Sofia Kenin, 6th in the world and winner of the 2020 Australian Open, will face the Polish Iga Swiatek (54th) on Saturday, who had never yet reached this stage in a Major.
The poster for the Roland-Garros ladies final is finally known. On Saturday she will pit the American Sofia Kenin, 6th in the world and winner of the 2020 Australian Open, against the Polish Iga Swiatek (54th), a novice at this stage of a great competition.
In the semifinals, Thursday 8 October, Sofia Kenin (21) beat the Czech Petra Kvitova (11th) 6-4, 7-5 in 1:45, while Iga Swiatek became at 19 the second Polish to advance to a Grand Slam final in the Open era, excluding the Argentine qualifier Nadia Podoroska (131st) 6-2, 6-1.
“I knew I had to play my best tennis to win, I’m super proud of myself, it was a great game,” said Sofia Kenin, who can now dream of a second major coronation this year. “Absolutely, I did it in Australia so … I’ve had some really tough games the last two weeks, I’m so excited to be in the final, it’s just amazing,” said the confident American. to regain 4th place in the WTA ranking, or even reach 3rd in the event of victory on Saturday.
Last year, for her second participation in the Parisian Major, Sofia Kenin beat her compatriot Serena Williams in the third round before falling in the 8th against the future Australian winner Ashleigh Barty. In total, since arriving on the main circuit in 2018, she had won only 6 matches on clay, for 11 defeats, before the 2020 edition of Roland-Garros.
A first for Swiatek
For his part, at 19, Iga Swiatek does not yet have any title to his list. Before the Roland-Garros final, she had only reached one on the WTA circuit, in Lugano, Switzerland, in 2019. But she has been irresistible since the start of the Parisian fortnight. She has not given up a single set in six games and has only let slip less than four games on average per game (3.9 exactly).
She knocked out the outgoing finalist, the Czech Marketa Vondrousova. Then offered the seeded No. 1 Simona Halep (6-1, 6-2) in the round of 16. The native of Warsaw is already guaranteed to make her entry into the top 25 with her qualification for the final (24th). It will even make a place in the top 20 in the event of a coronation on Saturday.
On center court Thursday afternoon, she left Podoroska no chance. The 23-year-old Argentina, the first player from qualifying to reach the last four at Roland Garros, has never really freed herself, as evidenced by her 20 unforced errors, for only six winning strokes. Before this 2020 edition of Roland-Garros, the Polish woman had never passed the knockout stages in a Grand Slam. And she is the seventh non-seeded player to reach the Parisian Grand Slam final.
With AFP
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