Kenin to face teenager Swiatek in French Open women's final

US player Sofia Kenin won the Australian Open earlier this year, and Poland's Iga Swiatek is the first Polish woman in 81 years to reach the Roland Garros final.

Poland's Iga Swiatek reacts after winning a point against Argentina's Nadia Podoroska during their women's singles semi-final tennis match on Day 12 of French Open in Paris on October 8, 2020.
AFP

Poland's Iga Swiatek reacts after winning a point against Argentina's Nadia Podoroska during their women's singles semi-final tennis match on Day 12 of French Open in Paris on October 8, 2020.

Sofia Kenin has defeated Petra Kvitova 6-4, 7-5 to reach the French Open final and will attempt to capture a second Grand Slam of the year following her Australian Open triumph.

Fourth seed Kenin will meet 19-year-old Iga Swiatek of Poland in Saturday's final after denying two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova in her bid for a third major.

The American faltered when serving for the match at 5-4 but broke Kvitova in the following game before closing out the victory over the Czech seventh seed.

Kenin, 21, will try to become the first woman to win two Slams in the same season since Angelique Kerber claimed the Australian and US Open titles in 2016.

READ MORE: Battling Djokovic books Tsitsipas clash in French Open semi-finals

Swiatek beats Podoroska

Earlier, Teenager Iga Swiatek became the first Polish woman in 81 years to reach the French Open final as she demolished Argentinian qualifier Nadia Podoroska 6-2, 6-1.

The 19-year-old has yet to drop a set at the tournament. 

"It seems unreal," said Swiatek. 

"I never thought at the start I would play so good here but I always knew that if I was going to be in the final of a Grand Slam it would be at the French Open.

"It's amazing for me," she added. "It's a dream come true."

Swiatek, ranked 54, has matched the run of compatriot Jadwiga Jedrzejowska, who finished runner-up at Roland Garros in 1939.

She is only the second Polish woman to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open era after Agnieszka Radwanska at Wimbledon in 2012.

Swiatek becomes the seventh unseeded women's finalist at Roland Garros. Of the previous six, only Jelena Ostapenko in 2017 went on to lift the trophy.

READ MORE: France investigates match-fixing at Roland Garros

"Basically I wanted to play this match as if it was the first round. I didn't want to think I was in the semi-finals because it would stress me," said Swiatek, who has conceded only 23 games en route to the final.

The last woman to capture the French Open title without losing a set was Justine Henin in 2007.

"I will need to be on a different level, the higher level, even though I'm winning easily right now," added Swiatek, who has never faced Kenin.

World number 131 Podoroska was the lowest-ranked semifinalist in Paris in the modern era, and the first women's qualifier to reach the last four of the French Open.

She will rise to a career the best of 48th after the tournament, having arrived without a single Grand Slam main draw win to her name.

READ MORE: Argentinian qualifier Podoroska enters French Open quarter-finals

READ MORE: 'It's like a dream come true': Podoroska continues to shine at French Open

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