Iga Swiatek was in charge of putting an end to Nadia Podoroska’s dream at Roland Garros, losing in the semifinals 6-2 and 6-1 (it was played in the central court Philippe-Chatrier).
Although she had a chance to break at the beginning of the match (0-40 in her favor), the Pole managed to turn the score and, from that moment, practically dominated Argentina throughout the set. 37 minutes games were enough for the world number 54 to win the first set 6-2. One of the keys was the high percentage of points won by Świątek in the first (70 percent) and second (73) serve.
The second set began as a kind of continuity of what happened at the beginning of the game. The Pole remained unshakable and broke Podoroska’s first two serves. The current world number 131 – after wasting several breaks – recovered in the next game. However, this was a mirage within the encounter. Iga again took the reins of the game and again broke Nadia’s serve to finally win 6-2 (lasted 35 minutes).
However, Nadia, who before the start of this contest was ranked 131st in the world, had a dream tournament, by overcoming qualifying to reach the main draw, which allowed her to become the first representative albiceleste in the main draw for the past six years. A fact that could have influenced her performance: since that September 22, when she debuted against the Polish Magdalena Frech (6-2 and 6-2) in the classification, she accumulated eight games in 16 days to sign your ticket to the semifinals.
Although in the masculine field they were once in the finals Guillermo Vilas (1975, 1977, 1978 and 1982), Gastón Gaudio (2004), Guillermo Coria (2004) and Mariano Door (2005), no tennis player albiceleste he was able to play for the title in the most important tournament on brick dust. Paola Suarez (2004), Clarisa Fernandez (2002), Gabriela Sabatini (1992, 1991, 1988, 1987 and 1985) and Raquel Giscafré (1974) reached the semifinals but were at the door to play the last game.
Still, his performance at the Grand Slam is historic. He had only played one main draw in this type of event in his career: lost in 2016 US Open debut to Anett Kontaveit. His presentation at the French Open already changed his career: he claimed to be Top 50 of the Ranking next monday and so far accumulated 425,250 euros in prizes, more than he had reaped in his entire professional career.
Some Podoroska numbers at Roland Garros:
Games: 114
Won-lost 66-48
Sets: 14
Won-lost: 10-4
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It is worth mentioning that the young European is one of the maximum surprises of the tournament to her 19 years. Located in the position 54 of the WTA ranking, she has already made sure to get into the Top 30 after becoming one of the four best in France and she reached this match with a statistical data that marks her level: he did not lose any sets in the tournament and only gave up 20 games in his five games. In his previous journey, he took out two candidates such as Marketa Vondrousova (19th in the world) and Simona Halep (2nd in the ranking). In this way, she became the first Polish tennis player to reach the final of the French Open.
Later, on the other side of the picture, the North American Sofia Kenin (6th) and the Czech Petra Kvitova (11 of the world) will face for the other ticket to the definition in the Philippe-Chatrier.
In the continuity of the Roland Garros grid, Diego Schwartzman will have a hard obstacle this Friday in the semifinals: the Small He will meet Spanish Rafael Nadal, whom he has just beaten at the Masters 1000 in Rome for the first time in his entire career after nine consecutive defeats.
Gabriela Sabatini explained what Nadia Podoroska and Diego Schwartzman must do to reach the Roland Garros final
From sleeping in airports and overcoming serious injuries to shining at Roland Garros: the unknown side of Nadia Podoroska
