PARIS: Polish teenager Iga Swiatek ousted the 2018 champion and top-seeded Simona Halep from the French Open, winning 6-1, 6-2 to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Swiatek, the only teenager who reached the fourth round, avenged a crushing defeat by Halep at the same stage last year. The Romanian won that match 6-1, 6-0, in just 45 minutes.
Swiatek turned the tables this time. She never faced a break point and punished Halep with her crunching baseline shots and exquisite net play. Swiatek’s win on the Court Philippe Chatrier ended a career-best 17-match winning streak for Halep.
After losing the first set in just 26 minutes and then losing her first service game at the start of the second, Halep fought desperately to reverse the momentum.
She saved four break points in the third game and another five before being broken again in the fifth game.
Swiatek suffered none of the nerves that blunted her powerful tennis in their meeting last year.
“I felt I was playing perfectly,” she said. “Even I am surprised that I could do that.”