Rock fan Swiatek rolls on to Grand Slam glory

Pole's incredible win streak continues with French Open triumph

PARIS－From bashful Rafael Nadal fan to the hard rock of Led Zeppelin and Guns N' Roses to the undisputed queen of women's tennis, Iga Swiatek has come a long way.

Having captured a first major at the pandemic-hit and delayed French Open in October 2020, Swiatek added a second at Roland Garros on Saturday to cap a sensational year so far for the Pole.

In March, as she celebrated winning the Indian Wells-Miami double, she took the world No 1 ranking when Ashleigh Barty announced her shock retirement.

"I didn't think it was going to turn out this way," Swiatek said of her sudden rise to the top.

"I don't know if I deserve it. Now maybe a little more, because winning that title in Florida was very difficult."

It was in Australia that Swiatek played her first Grand Slam in 2019, reaching the second round. A few months later, she only lasted 45 minutes in the last 16 against Simona Halep on her French Open debut.

It all started coming together for Swiatek in 2020－a run to the fourth round in Melbourne, a third round at the US Open and then going all the way to lift the French Open trophy, which was also her first title on the WTA circuit.

That propelled her into the top 20 in the world rankings. She also graduated from high school.

"Before, tennis was not the main part of her life. It was difficult. Imagine－practice at seven in the morning, because she had to go to school afterward. And she arrived tired, because she had to study at night," said Piotr Sierzputowski, her coach at the time.

Swiatek remains scholarly, devouring 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, a bestseller by Yuval Noah Harari while in Paris this year.

She has since started Alexandre Dumas' classic adventure novel The Three Musketeers.