The 2020 tennis year of… Iga Swiatek
If the first tournament victory falls straight to a major, then there are still big things to do. Like Iga Siwatek .
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Dec 07, 2020, 08:17 pm
When Jelena Ostapenko celebrated her very first title on the WTA tour in Roland Garros in 2017, she did so almost exactly 20 years after Gustavo Kuerten. The Brazilian also celebrated his debut success on the Bois de Boulogne. While Ostapenko still has to prove that this surprise triumph was the beginning of an extraordinary career, that of "Guga" is of course long over. And this was actually extremely good, including two other championships in Paris.
And Iga Swiatek? Well, the Polish woman has made a round in Roland Garros that is unparalleled. The 19-year-old won all 14 sets played, but did not give up more than four games (which Siwatek only "undermined" in the final against Sofia Kenin and in the second round against Su-Wei Hsieh). Otherwise, the teeanger rushed through the last Grand Slam tournament of 2020, carried by a remarkable kick serve and a terrific forehand. Particularly impressive: The 6: 1, 6: 2 against Simona Halep in the round of 16. In 2019 Swiatek had no chance against the Romanian at the French Open.
Swiatek also made it to the round of 16 in Australia
How unexpected this Swiatek victory came in view of the previous performances can be seen in the WTA world rankings: 17th place despite a major success, there is room for improvement. However, the young woman from Warsaw also showed at the other two Grand Slam tournaments of the 2020 season: At the Australian Open, Swiatek played her way into the round of 16 with victories against Timea Babos, Carla Suarez Navarro and Donna Vekic, where Anett Kontaveit lost to which they had already lost at the US Open 2019.
In New York City, on the other hand, round three against Victoria Azarenka ended . No shame, after all, the resurgent Belarusian played her way to the final.
Iga Swiatek did not show up after the French Open, taking autumn completely off, as in the year before. Perhaps also to improve their serve even further. A success rate of 67.5 percent is not yet suitable for the top ten. But the fact that Swiatek has won just over half of all games as a setback is very likely. At the end of the year there was a record of 14 wins with only five defeats. And an official prize money of 2,936,402 US dollars.