French Open: Iga Swiatek towers - and Ashleigh Barty is missing
Iga Swiatek stormed to the title in Paris with great dominance. The French Open also showed how serious the early end of Ashleigh Barty 's career is.
by SID
last edit:
Jun 06, 2022, 08:10 am
Iga Swiatek beamed with "1GA" printed on her sweat jacket and sat down to the shiny silver cup and raved about the great element of surprise after her renewed coup in Paris. "Wow. He's been a top athlete in our country for so many years," said the 21-year-old, completely flabbergasted by the fact that soccer star Robert Lewandowski had unannounced celebrated the big moment of her final triumph at the French Open: "I I'm just overwhelmed."
The prominent guest right next to her box, whom Swiatek spotted with great astonishment immediately after her superior 6:1, 6:3 victory against the still too inexperienced top talent Coco Gauff, is an expression of a changed standing of the world number one. The scene's high-flyer has matured into a star player and, in contrast to her surprising victory two years ago, knew what to expect after the 68-minute final.
2020 Iga Swiatek was "confused"
"In 2020 I was above all confused because I never really believed 100 percent that I could win a Grand Slam," said Swiatek: "Now I'm much more aware that all the pieces of the puzzle have to fit together and basically every aspect of the game has to work. I'm even happier with this awareness."
Her 35th victory in a row - Venus Williams last had such a series until the tournament in Linz in 2000 - and Suzanne Lenglen's unchallenged grip on the coupe also showed how difficult it was to say goodbye to the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open winner Ashleigh Barty weighs. All possible competitors from the top ten had already failed in the round of sixteen. As the best German, Angelique Kerber made it to the third round.
Billie-Jean King calls for equal opportunities
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said in a controversial statement that women's tennis is currently less attractive than men's competition. The appointments for the wide-ranging night sessions were correspondingly different, with nine out of ten going to the men. Tennis great Billie Jean King demanded that the organizers should "give both sexes the same opportunities".
Gauff, who also lost the doubles final alongside Jessica Pegula (USA) on Sunday, proved to be one of the attractions of the tournament. Against Swiatek, however, she has not yet been able to play the role of a real challenger. The 18-year-old, who appears very cheerful, can be expected to develop more strongly in the coming years. "I will hopefully learn from this experience and get even better," she said, wiping the tears of disappointment from her face.
Here the individual tableau in Roland Garros
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