Fired Up By Guns N’ Roses, Polish Teenager Iga Swiatek Wins French Open Without Dropping A Set

Part of Iga Swiatek’s routine at this French Open has been listening to “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses before every match.

Even though she had gotten a little bored of the classic rock tune, Swiatek didn’t change her pattern all the way to the final.

“I am still listening to Guns N’Roses’ Welcome to the Jungle because I want to keep my routines,” she said this week.

“Actually I wanted to change it because right now it’s kind of boring to listen every day to the same song. But yeah, I stayed with Guns N’Roses because I wanted to win.”

So Axl Rose and Slash get an assist after the unseeded Swiatek defeated No. 4 Sofia Kenin, 6-4, 6-1, in the Roland Garros final to become the first Polish woman or man to win a Grand Slam crown. She did not drop a set en route to the title, and crushed No. 1 seed and 2018 champion Simona Halep, 6-1, 6-2, in the fourth round.

The only time Swiatek and Kenin had ever met before was in the 2016 French Open Junior final, also won by Swiatek.

Now ranked No. 54, Swiatek was the lowest-ranked woman to make the final in 43 years. She had never won a title of any kind before and never advanced past the fourth round at a major.

Now thanks to her big serve and big groundstrokes, the 5-foot-9 Swiatek is the French Open champion and will rise to No. 17 in the world.

Swiatek entered with 2020 earnings of $431,619, but takes home a payday of $1,894,332 for winning the French.

“The way she’s playing right now it’s hard to imagine she won’t win half a dozen majors,” NBC’s John McEnroe said on air. “It’s incredible.”

Kenin, who was bidding to win her second major title of 2020 after capturing her maiden Slam at the Australian Open, takes home $947,166 as the runner-up.

Swiatek is the seventh different Roland Garros champion in the last seven years. During the past six, Rafael Nadal has won four titles and will play for a fifth in seven years on Sunday against rival Novak Djokovic. Swiatek lists Nadal as her favorite player and posted video of herself once watching Nadal practice.

If she was nervous for the final, Swiatek did not show it. She jumped out to a 2-0 lead with an early break and then broke again for a 5-3 lead. After Kenin broke back to get to 4-5, Swiatek held serve to take the first set.

With Swiatek leading 2-1 in the second set, Kenin left the court to get a leg ailment treated.

Swiatek continued to practice by herself on court and then won the next four straight games to take the match, closing it out with a forehand crosscourt winner.

Swiatek arrived at Roland Garros debating whether her future was in tennis or her studies.

Now, school may be out permanently for her.

“Right now it’s going to be hard to make a decision to go back to studying because I feel like really I can achieve big things,” she said. “I just want to focus on that.

“But I’m only 19, so a lot can change during a few years. We are going to see. Maybe I’m going to be, like, hungry for knowledge. Really I’m not going to make decision right now.”

For now, she’s a Grand Slam champion and she owes an assist to Guns N’ Roses.