Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts after beating Nadia Podoroska of Argentina to reach the women's French Open final. EPA
Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts after beating Nadia Podoroska of Argentina to reach the women's French Open final. EPA
Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts after beating Nadia Podoroska of Argentina to reach the women's French Open final. EPA
Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts after beating Nadia Podoroska of Argentina to reach the women's French Open final. EPA

French Open: Swiatek powers past Podoroska to reach first Grand Slam final


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Polish teenager Iga Swiatek became the youngest player to reach the French Open women's final in 19 years, continuing her bulldozing run at Roland Garros with a 6-2, 6-1 dismantling of Argentine qualifier Nadia Podoroska.

The 19-year-old will play Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin on Saturday in her first Grand Slam final.

World No 131 Podoroska, who was looking to become the first qualifier to reach a major final in men's or women's singles, had no answer to Swiatek's powerful groundstrokes and sleek movement.

Swiatek had broken serve 27 times en route to the last four and added five more to that count before finishing off the one-sided contest on Court Philippe Chatrier in 69 minutes.

"I'm kind of surprised, really. I always knew that if I would be in a Grand Slam final, it would be at the French Open," Swiatek said on court after becoming the first Polish woman to reach the Roland Garros final in 81 years and the first at any major since Agnieszka Radwanska at Wimbledon eight years ago.

"I wanted to play this match as a first-round match, I didn't want to think of it as a semi-final otherwise I would have been too stressed. I just wanted to be aggressive like previous matches. I'm feeling good and like nothing hurts me."

Swiatek, the youngest player to reach the women's final at Roland Garros since Kim Clijsters in 2001, looked to impose herself on the match early and jumped to a 3-0 lead.

She managed to hit through the court well, both off the forehand and backhand, and painted the red clay with winners, amassing 23 during another typical performance at a tournament in which she also snapped top seed Simona Halep's 17-match winning run.

"Usually, I'm that kind of player who is playing better under pressure," Swiatek told reporters. "If I'm not going to choke up, I think everything will be fine.

"But there's a reason why I was so efficient. Really I'm staying super focused. I'm not letting my opponents to play their best tennis. So I hope I'm going to do that on Saturday."

Unable to put up much resistance, Podoroska decided to show more aggression and started coming forward to cut down the time for Swiatek to hit her big shots.

That helped her hold two service games but was not enough to derail Swiatek, who faced just a single breakpoint in the opening set.

Podoroska, who earned more than she had in her entire career by reaching the semi-finals, would have hoped for the tide to turn in the second set but there was no respite.

Swiatek, who also plays in a doubles semi-final on Friday, kept up the tempo and raced to a 4-0 lead before nervous errors allowed Podoroska to avoid a second-set bagel with a break of serve.

The Pole, who has lost only 23 games in six matches, broke back immediately, however, and ended Podoroska's ordeal on the first match point with an unreturned serve.

MATCH INFO

Burnley 0

Man City 3

Raheem Sterling 35', 49'

Ferran Torres 65'

 

 

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

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The Sand Castle

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Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

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Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
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The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry

Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000

Engine: 3.5-litre V6

Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm

Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km

About Karol Nawrocki

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Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
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The%20specs
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Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi

Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania

Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Namibia

Group E: Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Angola

Group F: Cameroon, Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau

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Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
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Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
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Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
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6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Group 1 (PA) $55,000 (Dirt) 1,900m  

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8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Group 2 (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,900m  

8.55pm: Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,900m  

9.30pm: Balanchine Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m   

MATCH INFO

Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')

Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)

Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

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