Iga Swiatek reinforces 'Queen of Clay' tag in Paris Olympics

At that juncture, Swiatek could have thrown in the towel. The blow was so severe that her opponent walked across the net to check on the Pole. "Iga, are you OK?" Collins could be heard asking. Even the chair umpire stared down Swiatek with an, "Are you good to go?" gesture.  

Swiatek would eventually rise to her feet with a nod, declaring her intention to continue. Amazingly, the World No. 1 would breeze through the next four games to take a 4-0 lead. Collins would hold serve to make it 4-1 before conceding the match with an injury, allowing Swiatek to advance to the semifinals.

After the game, Swiatek said "the adrenaline" of being on the court inspired her to brave through. 

"I could not breathe for a moment. It hurt for a bit," Swiatek said of the moment she got hit, via ESPN. "But with adrenaline that you have on the court, you don't feel as much as you should." 

By advancing to the semifinals, Swiatek made history on several counts on Wednesday.

Most of all, Swiatek — the winner of three consecutive French Open titles and four overall —reinforced her nickname of the "Queen of Clay" by continuing her domination at Roland Garros.

With 25 wins on the clay court this season, she is only the fifth player to achieve the feat in the 21st century. Furthermore, the Polish superstar is now tied for the most clay-court semifinal appearances in a single season with Serena Williams and Sara Errani. 

The scary proposition is Swiatek is still only 23 and looks primed to dominate the clay court for at least another decade. Carlos Alcaraz might be the successor of Rafael Nadal, but Swiatek is the female version of the 14-time Roland Garros winner. All hail the Queen of Clay!