Teenager is latest young winner who has shown contempt for custom and experience
At the end of her speech after a seventh dismantling of seven, Iga Swiatek returned to the mic with one final thought: “Maybe it just had to be like that,” she said, laughing. “Another underdog is gonna win a grand slam. In women’s tennis it’s so open right now that it’s crazy.”
Although it was a shock to see Swiatek forego a more conventional path to a first slam title by winning at just 19 years old, conceding an absurd 28 games and clinching her first tour-level title at Roland Garros, in some ways women’s tennis has not been open for the past two years. The youth have arrived and they are consistently slamming the door on the rest.
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