 "Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen after defeating Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the final of the 2024 French Open women's singles event. AP")
Iga Swiatek won the 2024 French Open title beating Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 in the women’s final on Saturday in Paris. Swiatek has now won the Roland Garros title three years in a row and four in total. This is her fifth major title to go with her 2022 US Open win.
Swiatek is the fourth woman in the Open era to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen four times – after Justine Henin, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf.
Only two, however, have won the French Open three years in a row – Henin (2005-07) and Monica Seles (1990-92).
The World No 1 player has now won all five of her major finals.
Heading into the French Open, the question was whether anyone could stop Swiatek, who arrived having won titles in Madrid and Rome. With the win on Saturday, she joins Serena Williams in winning all three tournaments on clay in the same season.
Naomi Osaka, on her least successful surface, had match point against Swiatek in the second round but didn’t go past the finish line.
Since then, Swiatek upped the intensity conceding a mere 17 games in five matches, and became the 15th player in the Open era to win a major after saving a match point.
Her last defeat at Roland Garros came to Maria Sakkari in the 2021 quarter-finals. Swiatek’s only other loss here was in the fourth round of her debut in 2019.
“It’s amazing to be here. I love this place. I wait every year to come back,” said Swiatek, who clicked into gear after saving a match point against Naomi Osaka in the second round.
“I was almost out of the tournament,” she said. “I also needed to believe this one is going to be possible, it’s been a really emotional tournament.”
At 23, her four Roland Garros titles is the same number Rafael Nadal, the record 14-time champion, had at the same age.
For the 28-year-old Paolini it was a sorry conclusion, at least in singles, to an otherwise brilliant fortnight in the French capital.
The world number 15 had won a total of four matches in 16 Grand Slam appearances before advancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
While she fell short of emulating compatriot Francesca Schiavone, who won the 2010 French Open, Paolini could yet finish on a winning note with her and doubles partner Sara Errani through to Sunday’s final.
“I have to say congratulations to you, Iga,” said Paolini. “I think to play you here is the toughest challenge in this sport.”
Paolini’s transformation this season into a player capable of challenging for the biggest prizes stemmed in part from quashing the mindset she needed “a miracle” to beat the best in the sport.
Swiatek takes charge
Riding a 20-match winning streak in Paris, and a winner of 18 straight matches this year after titles in Madrid and Rome, Swiatek quickly set about her business.
She powered an ace to hold in the opening game and had Paolini backpedalling down break point, but the Italian ground out a gutsy hold and then broke Swiatek when the Pole flayed a forehand long.
That triggered a searing riposte from Swiatek, who broke to love to get back on serve and then surged 4-2 in front after Paolini coughed up a costly double-fault.
Swiatek had her opponent constantly scurrying around the court and the errors began to stack up for Paolini, who conceded the first set with a weak groundstroke into the net.
With Swiatek firmly in the ascendancy, Paolini looked lost for answers as the top seed oozed confidence and repeatedly took control of the rallies.
Had it not been for an astonishing recovery against Naomi Osaka in the second round when she saved a match point, Swiatek would have suffered her earliest Grand Slam exit at the French Open.
Instead that fright served to ignite her title aspirations, reigning Wimbledon and US Open champions – Marketa Vondrousova and Coco Gauff – powerless to stop the Swiatek offensive.
Swiatek had difficulty putting away Karolina Muchova last year when heavily fancied, but there was no such trouble 12 months on as the Pole dismantled Paolini to underline her burgeoning status as the ‘Queen of clay’.
The three games won by Paolini was the fewest in the final here since Henin obliterated Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2 in 2007, which also coincided with the Belgian’s fourth Roland Garros title in five years.
With AFP inputs