the defending champion, Iga Swiatek, is also released – Release

This is not the season for the favorites at Roland Garros. After the retirement of Naomi Osaka and Ashleigh Barty, after the defeat in the eighth of Serena Williams, it is the turn of Iga Swiatek, the defending champion, to say goodbye to the Parisian ocher. The Polish lost this Wednesday in straight sets (6-4, 6-4), against the Greek Maria Sakkari. However, they predicted a one-way ticket to the Suzanne-Lenglen Cup. She had not conceded a single set since the start of the tournament. She had even won her last 22 sets at Roland Garros. Unbeaten for eleven games at Porte d’Auteuil. And suddenly, everything collapses.

Many faults of the Polish

The game had nevertheless started under good auspices for Iga Swiatek who, after having easily imposed herself on her serve, had broken the Greek entry. Except that Maria Sakkari returned directly to the match by breaking through, thanks in particular to many unforced errors by the Polish woman on her forehand. The match continued under high intensity and it was finally the outsider who broke at the best time, at 4-4, and followed up with a service game that gave him the set. It’s already a big surprise: the Polish concedes her first set at Roland Garros since a round of 16 lost in 2019 against Simona Halep.

The second set started very badly for a troubled Iga Swiatek. Visibly embarrassed physically, she makes a detour through the infirmary and comes back strapped to the thigh. She will also be hampered by the power of Maria Sakkari and her good coverage of the pitch. The Polish even concedes the entry break by multiplying unforced errors. She held on for the rest of the set but failed to come back, in particular thanks to a very good first serve from her opponent. We quickly believed in the last game where Iga Swiatek saves two set points but will not hold on to the third. It therefore took 1 hour 35 minutes to see the last favorite of this tournament in turn leave the Porte d’Auteuil.

“It’s a dream come true”

Beyond the disappointment of the defending champion sheepishly leaving the court, we will remember the feat of a speechless Maria Sakkari in the face of questions from Fabrice Santoro. “It’s a dream come true”, she finally stammered. The 18th in the world was already playing at the height of her 25 years her first Grand Slam quarter-final and here she is propelled to the gates of the final in a Roland-Garros deprived of its headliners and where anything is possible. She will play Czech Barbora Krejcikova on Thursday, who also won this Wednesday afternoon in a match where her opponent, the American Coco Gauff, only 17 years old was instead given the advantage.

This season, decidedly rich in surprises, makes people happy: Greece for example, which will therefore have two representatives in the semi-finals thanks to this victory of Maria Sakkari, and that of Stéfanos Tsitsipas, on Tuesday, against Daniil Medvedev. And then there are other surprises that are a little less happy. This exit of the heads of series among women will give rise to a last unprecedented square, without any representative of the top 10. Unheard of.