Iga Swiatek confirmed her status as the ‘queen of clay’ when she outplayed Elina Svitolina to reach the French Open semifinal. The 24-year-old was in irrepressible form as she swept Svitolina aside 6-1, 7-5 to set up a mouthwatering clash with Aryna Sabalenka in Thursday’s last-four tussle.
After a topsy-turvy year in which Swiatek has dropped down the rankings to No. 5 in the world, the Pole finds herself as the fifth seed in a tournament she’s won four times in the last five years. In a rare run on clay, she suffered disappointing losses in Stuttgart, Madrid, and Rome, and a strong showing in Paris appeared unlikely.
Swiatek has rallied, however, and only given up one set en route to the semifinal. Along the way, Swiatek has collected some impressive stats that confirm her dominance on clay, including becoming only the second quickest male or female player in history to win 40 main draw singles triumphs at Roland-Garros. The Tennis Reddit account picked up the stat.
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"40 - Iga Swiatek (40-2) is the second-fastest player to claim 40 Singles main draw wins at the French Open in the Open Era (equalling Bjorn Borg) - only Rafael nadal did it in less matches (41). Speed up."
With the victory over Svitolina, Swiatek played her 42nd Paris match and notched her 40th win. Only Rafael Nadal, who is widely known as the King of Clay, achieved the feat faster, taking only 41 matches. Swiatek joined Bjorn Borg in second place.
Chris Evert supports Iga Swiatek as pole looks to capture fifth French Open title
Joining Swiatek in the top five fastest players to reach 40 wins in Paris are Chris Evert and Monica Seles. Chris Evert took 43 matches to reach the landmark in the 1970s and 1980s, and her win percentage - 92.3% (72-6) is second only to the Pole's, whose astonishing 95.2% (40-2) is a record. Evert won seven French Open titles.
Three-time champion Monica Seles equalled Evert's fastest to 40 wins slate - 43 matches - and finished her career with an 87.1% win rate (54-8). Evert spoke to Tennis365 just before this year's tournament began and insisted that despite her recent woes, Swiatek's class on the dirt would shine through.
“I was a champion and I know how it feels when you lose that edge against the other players and she’s a nice person, she’s a good person, and I hope she finds that level that made her the greatest clay court or maybe one of the greatest clay court players ever.”
Swiatek is all set to face her biggest test this year when she plays Sabalenka on Thursday. She holds a 5-1 win/loss clay-court record over the Belarusian World No. 1, but Sabalenka has looked dominant so far in the tournament, and will test Swiatek's record-breaking credentials.
