Iga Swaitek has become the youngest woman for more than 30 years to win a third consecutive French Open title after thrashing underdog Jasmine Paolini in straight sets.
The world No.1 overcame a test early on in the match before storming to a 6-2, 6-1, victory in Paris. She has won the event for the fourth time in her career and is the first woman in French Open history to achieve this milestone before their 24th birthday. To put that into context, 14-time winner Rafael Nadal was the same age as Swiatek (who is currently 23) when he won his fourth trophy.
Saturday’s triumph saw Swiatek blast 18 winners as she capitalised on Paolini’s 18 unforced errors. At one stage, she won 10 games in a row in what was the most one-sided women’s final (based on number of games dropped) since 2007.
“It’s amazing to be here. I love this place. I wait every year to come back,” Swiatek said during the trophy ceremony.
“I was almost out of the tournament in the second round. Thank you (the crowd and fans) for staying behind me and cheering for me. I needed to believe it would be possible. It was an emotional tournament.”
The showdown on Court Phillippe Chartier was a clash of two very different worlds. Top seed Swaitek was playing in her fifth major final and had only dropped one set in the entire tournament, which was in the second round against former No.1 Naomi Osaka. In contrast, Paolini was playing in her first major final at the age of 28 and until this year had never made it beyond the second round in Paris.
Despite being the heavy favourite in the clash, Swiatek did face a stern challenge early on against the heavy-hitting Italian who broke her three games into the final. Despite the blip, the Pole came back fighting straight away by breaking back to love before muscling her way through the opening set, winning five games in a row. Capitalising on a rapid rise in unforced errors made by Paolini, who hit the ball into the net to hand Swiatek a 6-2 lead.
Continuing her dominance in the second frame, She continued to dismantle Paolini’s game on the court with more mistakes coming from the racket of the world No.15. After just 63 minutes of play, Swiatek was ready to serve for the victory. She worked her way to her first championship point after a Paolini forehand drifted long before closing the match out with a serve out wide that her rival returned out.
“Congrats for an amazing tournament. I’m really impressed with how you’ve [Paolini] been playing these last two weeks,” the French Open champion commented.
“I hope we’ll have many more matches in the final rounds. I want to thank my team, and my family, without them I wouldn’t be here. I want to thank everyone who made this tournament possible.”
There is also a silver lining for runner-up Paolini, who will make her top 10 debut in the PIF WTA rankings on Monday. Earlier in the tournament she knocked out fourth seed Elena Rybakina which was only her third win over a top-five player. She will return to action on Sunday in the doubles final alongside Sara Errani.
“I have to say congratulations to you Iga. Playing you here is the toughest challenge in the sport. You are doing a great job – world number and many slams,” said Paolini.
“(These are) The best days of my life I think. Tomorrow I have the doubles final. It’s been a very intense 15 days and I’mreally happy to be here.
“Today was tough but I’m really proud of myself anyway.”
Swiatek is the youngest player to win three consecutive titles at Roland Garros since Monica Seles between 1990-1992. She is also the first WTA player to win the same major event three times in a row since Serena Williams (US Open 2012-2014).
