French Open results: Top seed Simona Halep dumped out of third round by teenager Iga Swiatek in stunning upset
Polish 19-year-old secured a sensational victory over favourite Halep to reach the fourth round in straight sets
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Your support makes all the difference.Teenager Iga Swiatek produced a stunning performance to knock out top seed and title favourite Simona Halep in the fourth round of the French Open.
The 19-year-old from Poland thumped 30 winners and outplayed Halep in all areas of the court to win 6-1, 6-2 in just an hour and seven minutes.
In the previous round, Halep had claimed revenge against Amanda Anisimova, who beat her at Roland Garros last year, but here the boot was on the other foot.
Halep and Swiatek met at the same stage last summer with the Pole, a former junior Wimbledon champion, managing just one game.
But it was immediately clear how much she has developed in the last year as she raced into a 3-0 lead.
She hit 17 winners in the first set and, although Halep made only two unforced errors, she was simply not able to get into the match.
The Romanian began to shoot panicked glances towards coach Darren Cahill as Swiatek moved ahead again early in the second set, the teenager showing no signs at all of stage fright.
Halep tried to fight back but more often than not it was Swiatek winning the biggest points and she was nerveless in serving it out.
Halep's exit means there is guaranteed to be a new French Open champion, with third seed Elina Svitolina now the highest-ranked player left.
Another major shock swiftly followed as Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan defeated fifth seed Kiki Bertens 6-4, 6-4 to set up a clash with Swiatek.
Trevisan, 26, had never won a grand slam match prior to this week and is now through to her first quarter-final.
PA
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