Two young women recently made waves in the 2020 French Open tournament.
Nineteen-year-old Iga Natalia Swiatek became the first ever Polish Grand Slam singles champion. She’s the youngest winner since 16-year-old Monica Seles aced the tournament in 1990. Swiatek also became the youngest singles champion since Rafael Nadal in 2005 and the lowest ranked French Open champion in the history of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
At 13, Iga joined the Junior Circuit in 2015 and had her Grand Slam debut at the French Open a year later, reaching the quarters in both singles and doubles. She turned pro the same year, competing in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s Circuit until end of 2018. She won all seven ITF singles – the first three when she was 15.
At this year’s Australian Open, Iga reached the fourth round prior to the tour’s suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic. At the US Open, she reached the third round, losing to Viktoria Azarenka. She was ranked #54 entering the French Open and after winning, is now ranked #17 in the world.
In the Juniors tournament, Alexandra Maniego Eala, 15, is currently the Australian Open girls doubles champion.
Joining the premier tennis tournament Les Petit As in France in 2018, Alex won the Under-14 tournament. She made her junior Grand Slam debut at the 2019 US Open. After reaching the girls’ singles semis at the recent French Open, she improved her ITF Junior Circuit ranking No. 2.
The traditional power of women’s tennis is slowly fading, and the rising of the young guns assures us that unlike some other sports, tennis is global in reach. What can be more global than with the entry of Swiatek joining the ranks of Naomi Osaka, Ash Barty, Sofia Kenin Bianca Andreescu, and Belinda Bencic? Eala, sooner or later will jump into the big stage./PN
