Swiatek to face qualifier Martina Trevisan in the quarter-finals after Italian knocks out fifth seed Kiki Bertens
Sunday 4 October 2020 15:21, UK
Teenager Iga Swiatek produced a stunning performance to knock out top seed and title favourite Simona Halep in the fourth round of the French Open.
The 19-year-old from Poland thumped 30 winners and outplayed Halep in all areas of the court to win 6-1 6-2 in just an hour and seven minutes.
In the previous round, Halep had claimed revenge against Amanda Anisimova, who beat her at Roland Garros last year, but here the boot was on the other foot.
Halep and Swiatek met at the same stage last summer with the Pole, a former junior Wimbledon champion, managing just one game.
But it was immediately clear how much she has developed in the last year as she raced into a 3-0 lead.
She hit 17 winners in the first set and, although Halep made only two unforced errors, she was simply not able to get into the match.
The Romanian began to shoot panicked glances towards coach Darren Cahill as Swiatek moved ahead again early in the second set, the teenager showing no signs at all of stage fright.
Halep tried to fight back but more often than not it was Swiatek winning the biggest points and she was nerveless in serving it out.
Swiatek appeared shocked afterwards, saying on court: "I don't know what happened. I felt like I was playing perfectly. I was so focused the whole match. Even I am surprised that I can do that."
Halep's exit means there is guaranteed to be a new French Open champion, with third seed Elina Svitolina the highest-ranked player left.
"All the credit to her, she played unbelievable today and she was everywhere and she hit all the balls in very strong, very powerful. It was a little bit cold and I couldn't be at my best but it was her match today," said Halep.
"I realise that it was a fantastic year with all the tough moments that we all had, so I'm not going to ruin the whole year just for a match. Of course it's not easy to take it, but I'm used to some tough moments in this career."
Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan, ranked world No 159, became the first qualifier in eight years to reach the French Open quarter-finals after she defeated fifth seed Kiki Bertens 6-4 6-4 to set up a meeting with Swiatek.
Trevisan, 26, had never won a Grand Slam match prior to the tournament at Roland Garros.
Elina Svitolina extended her winning run on clay courts to eight matches with a dominant 6-1 6-3 win against French hope Caroline Garcia.
The Ukrainian third seed will next meet Nadia Podoroska, ranked world No 131, after the Argentinian defeated unseeded Czech Barbora Krejcikova 2-6 6-2 6-3.
Sofia Kenin and Petra Kvitova, who are both in the bottom half of the draw, are the only Grand Slam champions remaining.
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