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Tennis: Poland’s Świątek moves into French Open quarter-finals

04.10.2020 13:30
Polish tennis player Iga Świątek has reached the quarter-finals of the French Open tournament in Paris, with a shock 6-1, 6-2 victory on Sunday against top seed Simona Halep of Romania.
Iga Świątek of Poland celebrates after winning her 4th round match against Simona Halep of Romania at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 04 October 2020.
Iga Świątek of Poland celebrates after winning her 4th round match against Simona Halep of Romania at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 04 October 2020. Photo: PAP/EPA/JULIEN DE ROSA

“I am surprised I could do this," admitted Świątek after ending the 17-match winning streak of Halep who was the overwhelming favourite. "I felt like I played a great match," Świątek was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency on Sunday.

Świątek, who will be playing in her first quarter-finals at the majors, stunningly managed to turn the tables as last year she was only able to win one game against Halep at the same stage in the tournament, getting sent packing in just 45 minutes.

"Last year I wasn't experienced enough, it was my first match in a big stadium, so I was a little stressed,” Świątek said as quoted by AFP. “But I have made a lot of progress since then…Now I can handle the pressure,” she added.

Świątek will next face Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan, who on Sunday beat Dutch fifth seed Kiki Bertens, for a place in the semi-finals.

Świątek cruised into the fourth round with a straight-set 6-3, 6-2 win on Friday against Eugenie Bouchard of Canada. On Wednesday she outplayed Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei 6-1, 6-4 in their second-round clash at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris.

The Pole, the 2018 junior Wimbledon champion, is ranked world No. 54 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). She reached the fourth round of last year’s French Open.

(mo)

Source: AFP, thenews.pl