With the poise of a veteran and the shots of a champion, 19-year-old Iga Swiatek picked the perfect place for her first tour-level title: the French Open.
Unseeded and ranked merely 54th, Swiatek grabbed the last six games to beat Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-1 in the final at Roland Garros on Saturday, becoming the first Polish tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles trophy.
When she smacked one last forehand winner to the corner to end things, Swiatek placed her right hand over her mouth then crouched, shaking her head.
Hard to believe? Maybe. This was, after all, only her seventh major tournament; she’d never been past the fourth round.
But the way she played these two weeks made this outcome less of a surprise.
Swiatek is the first woman to triumph in Paris without ceding a set since Justine Henin in 2007.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the landmark win:
With inputs from AP