World News – US – Simona Halep upset at Roland-Garros by Iga Swiatek

Swiatek rebounded seeded Halep in back-to-back sets in the fourth round to deliver the biggest surprise yet of the tournament

The women’s Roland Garros tournament, already a mad rush of upheaval and unlikely success stories, was completely disrupted on Sunday when young Polish Iga Swiatek upset Non 1 seed Simona Halep 6-1, 6 -2 in the fourth round

Swiatek, 19, won just one match against Halep in the fourth round in Paris last year, but she was the dominant force on red clay on Sunday, dictating the game with her whipping forehand and forcing Halep to lunges repeatedly to keep pace

It was a mind-blowing rout and one of the most unequal losses of 29-year-old Halep’s career She had won 17 straight games in the disrupted 2020 season and 13 in a row on clay.She skipped the United States Open due to travel concerns during the coronavirus pandemic and mainly trained on clay during the break She returned after a six-month hiatus to win surface titles at the Prague Open and the Italian Open

On Friday, Halep passed Amanda Anisimova, the American teenager who upset her at Roland Garros last year, dominating her 6-0, 6-1 this time around Halep appeared to be in rare form and was heading for another title, but ended up losing to another teenager at this year’s Roland Garros

Less than an hour after the defeat of Halep, Martina Trevisan, an Italian qualifier, opened the women’s draw again by upsetting the No 5 seeded Kiki Bertens 6-4, 6-4 in fourth round Trevisan, ranked 159, had previously beaten American teenager Coco Gauff and No 20 seeded Maria Sakkari in the tournament She finished in style against Bertens, whose the best surface is clay, beating a backhand topspin lob winner who landed on the baseline

“I’m living a dream it’s true” said Trevisan “I came here two weeks ago to play my qualifiers, but today I’m here in the quarterfinals So oh my God, I can’t believe it « 

Swiatek’s father Tomasz was an Olympic rower who competed for Poland at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games Their last name is regularly mispronounced on the women’s tennis circuit: she politely suggests Shvee-ON-tek

But she certainly made a name for herself on Sunday « Even I am surprised I could do this, » Swiatek said after wrapping up the win and hiding her head in a towel in her seat in court

Halep won the 2018 French Open and followed by beating Serena Williams to win Wimbledon in 2019 Her defeat leaves no Elina Svitolina, the third seed remaining at Roland Garros, but Svitolina has yet to reach a Grand Slam singles final

Only four of the 32 seeds remain in the draw: Svitolina, No 4 Sofia Kenin, no 7 Petra Kvitova and no 30 Ons Jabeur

French Open, Iga Świątek, Simona Halep, Tennis, Eugenie Bouchard, Kiki Bertens