Smashes 81-year first to secure spot in first Slam final

Paris: Iga Swiatek arrived at the French Open puzzling over whether her future was on a Tennis Court or inside a University lecture hall. Now, having stormed into the final at Roland Garros, school may be out permanently for the 19-year-old, the first Polish woman to make the championship match in Paris since 1939.

“Right now it’s going to be hard to make a decision to go back to studying because I feel like really I can achieve big things. I just want to focus on that,” said Swiatek, who reached her maiden final at the Slams by easing past Argentine qualifier Nadia Podoroska 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday.

But I’m only 19, so a lot can change during a few years. We are going to see. Maybe I’m going to be, like, hungry for knowledge. Really I’m not going to make decision right now.”

In 2019, Swiatek made the last 16 in Paris where she lost in just 45 minutes to 2018 Simona Halep, claiming just one game. After that bruising experience, she headed back to high school to complete “six or seven tests” before hopping back on a plane to play at Wimbledon.

This year in Paris, she said she was treating the next two seasons as “gap years” having used the Coronavirus lockdown to complete her graduation exam.

 “I want to have two gap years to see how my tennis is going to develop when I don’t have other things in my life. It depends, if I am going to be top 10 and I am going to be fighting for Grand Slams, then for sure I am not going to have time for University. I am going to work more on my image and my career. But if I am still top 100 for a few more years, then probably, I am going to go to University.”

French Open 2020 SCHEDULE

TODAY’S MATCHES (Oct. 9)

SEMI-FINALS

Men’s Singles

> 12 Diego Schwartzman Vs 2 Rafael Nadal 6.20 pm

> 1 Novak Djokovic Vs 5 StefanosTsitsipas 8.30 pm

Women’s Doubles

> 4 Barbora Krejčíková & Kateřina Siniaková Vs

2 Kristina Mladenovic & Tímea Babos 2.30 pm

> 14 Alexa Guarachi & Desirae Krawczyk Vs

Iga Świątek & Nicole Melichar 3.45 pm

TOMORROW’S MATCHES (Oct. 10)

FINALS

Women’s Singles

> Iga Świątek Vs 4 Sofia Kenin 6.30 pm

men’s Doubles

> 7 Mate Pavić & Bruno Soares Vs 7.45 pm

8 Andreas Mies & Kevin Krawietz

NOTE: Select French Open tennis matches will be broadcast live in India on the Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2 HD TV channels. Live streaming of the French Open will be available on Disney+ Hotstar — Star’s OTT platform.