Poland's Iga Swiatek beats Sofia Kenin for French Open title
Paris: 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.
"It's crazy. Two years ago, I won a junior Grand Slam, and right now I'm here. It feels like such a short time," Swiatek said, her voice cracking. "I'm just overwhelmed."
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. She lost only 28 games across seven matches, too.
She is the first teen to win the women's title at the French Open since Iva Majoli in 1997.
And Swiatek did it with victories over such opponents as 2018 champion Simona Halep and 2019 runner-up Marketa Vondrousova, both by scores of 6-1, 6-2.
So it made sense that Swiatek would be able to get past Kenin, a 21-year-old American who was trying to claim her second major title of 2020 after winning the Australian Open in February.
"A great tournament. A great match," Kenin told Swiatek during the trophy ceremony.
Kenin was 16-1 in Grand Slam matches until Saturday. But she dealt with a leg issue in the second set and showed frustration by kicking her red-white-and-blue racket after lost points.
And then there was this: She ran into the composed Swiatek, who only recently completed her high school studies, listens to Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses before walking on court, travels with a sports psychologist and meditates during changeovers, breathing slowly with her eyes closed.
"I was just mentally consistent, Swiatek said. I felt like today was really stressful for me, so it was kind of hard. This weekend is the culmination of an unusual two weeks, to say the least.
The tournament was postponed form May-June to September-October because of the coronavirus pandemic; the recently rising number of COVID-19 cases in France led the government to limit the number of spectators allowed on the grounds to 1,000 each day.
Some top women, including 2019 champion Ash Barty and three-time major champ Naomi Osaka didn't enter the event; 23-time Slam winner Serena Williams withdrew before the second round with an injury.
The temperature was in the mid-50s (low teens Celsius), with a slight breeze, and the hundreds of fans scattered in Court Philippe Chatrier were mostly subdued other than a group that would shout out Swiatek's first name, stretching it out over several seconds each time to sound like Eeeeeeeeeee-gah.
At the changeover after the third game of the second set, Kenin was visited by a trainer and went off the court for a medical timeout, then returned with her left thigh wrapped.
Kenin said after her fourth-round match Monday that she had slipped and maybe pulled something during practice the day before.
While Kenin was gone, Swiatek tried to stay warm by pulling on a white jacket and hitting some serves, earning applause from spectators. When play resumed, Swiatek needed only 12 more minutes to wrap up the victory, finishing with a 25-10 edge in winners.
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India has enough oil stock to weather West Asia crisis; coverage in place for 6-8 weeks
New Delhi (PTI): India holds sufficient crude and fuel inventories to meet domestic demand for petrol, diesel, and other fuels for six to eight weeks, top government sources said, cushioning the country against any short-term supply disruption amid escalating military conflict in West Asia.
About half of India's crude and LPG imports transit the Strait of Hormuz - the key energy chokepoint that has seen disruptions following US and Israeli attacks on Iranian government, military and nuclear facilities. Iran warned shipping away from the strait, and insurers withdrew coverage, effectively halting tanker movements.
A top oil ministry official, who wished not to be named, said the government is monitoring the situation "on a daily and hourly basis" and is confident of navigating through the crisis that by some estimates may last a week or ten days.
While the country has crude oil stocks to last 25 days and fuel to last a similar duration, contingency plans - including using stockpile in strategic petroleum reserves, commercial stocks, and diversified sourcing from the US, Russia, West Africa, and Latin America - will ensure continuity even if the crisis lasts longer.
While immediate shortages are unlikely, rising crude prices and higher freight and insurance costs could impact India's import bill and inflation.
Separately, the ministry in a statement said Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri "briefed the media on the country's preparedness in the current circumstances" and it was informed that "the country is well stocked with crude oil and inventories of key petroleum products including petrol, diesel and ATF to deal with short-term disruptions arising from the Middle East."
It, however, did not give details of the stocks.
"The Ministry has established a 24×7 control room to continuously monitor the supply and stock position of petroleum products across the country," it said.
"At present, the government is reasonably comfortable in terms of stocks. Safeguarding the interests of Indian consumers remains the highest priority. Based on continuous monitoring, the government is cautiously optimistic that phased measures can be taken, if required, to further mitigate the situation."
India is the third largest importer, fourth largest refiner, and fifth largest exporter of petroleum products globally.
"It was further apprised that in the last few years, India has ensured both availability and affordability of energy for its population by diversifying its sources. Indian energy companies now have access to energy supplies that are not routed through the Strait of Hormuz.
"Such cargoes will remain available and help mitigate supplies that may be temporarily affected enroute through the Strait of Hormuz," the statement said.
The official said that while this year crude sourced from the countries that use the Strait of Hormuz is above 50 per cent due to a drop in Russian cargoes, the average over the past couple of years has been 40 per cent. The remaining 60 per cent is not shipped from the Strait.
Crude oil -- the raw material that is turned into fuels like petrol and diesel in refineries -- in storage tanks, pipelines and on ships in transit is enough to meet the country's requirement for 25 days. Besides, there are stock of fuel in refineries, deposits, pipelines and other storage facilities that could meet demand for a similar duration, he said.
On top of this, there is crude oil stored in underground strategic reserves.
The country's commercial crude oil stocks, including strategic petroleum reserves at Mangalore, Padur, and Visakhapatnam, total around 100 million barrels. This, along with additional refined product inventories, provides a substantial buffer against short-term disruptions.
"We are in a reasonably comfortable situation," the official said.
The official said India was looking to import LPG even before the Iran crisis broke out last weekend. An issue with the pipeline in Saudi Arabia, the principal supplier of LPG to India, had created a deficit of 120,000 tonnes.
"There are a large number of producers, and we are tapping them," the official said.
With imports via the Strait of Hormuz averaging roughly 2.5 million barrels per day -- about half of India's just over 5 million bpd total crude imports -- these combined reserves could theoretically cover around 40-45 days of imports in a crude disruption scenario, he said.
Additional refined product inventories would extend effective coverage further.
However, the immediate impact will be on prices. Brent, the global benchmark, crossed USD 80 per barrel, roughly 10 per cent more since the Iran crisis. For India, higher prices means higher import bill.
India spent USD 137 billion on crude oil imports in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025. During April 2025 to January 2026 - the first ten months of the current fiscal year - it spent USD 100.4 billion on imports of 206.3 million tonnes of crude oil.
The United States and Israel launched military strikes on targets in Iran over the weekend. Tehran retaliated with missiles and drones aimed at Israel and countries hosting US forces, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Media reports suggest the conflict has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows. Roughly one-third of the world's seaborne crude oil exports and about 20 per cent of liquefied natural gas shipments transit the narrow waterway.
India, the world's third-largest oil importer, imports roughly half of its crude needs through the narrow Strait. Its mainstay liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier in Qatar also uses the strait to ship the fuel to India.
In case of closure, India can tap suppliers in West Africa, Latin Amercia and the US to make up for the shortfall from the Middle-East. India could also tap Russian oil to make up for the deficit.
India had agreed to wind down purchases of Russian oil as part of a trade deal with the US - a deal which now sits in limbo after the US Supreme Court struck down US President Donald Trump's country-based tariffs.
