Swiatek secures place among greats
Pole walks away with 4th French Open title
PARIS: Iga Swiatek secured her place among tennis greats on Saturday as she joined an exclusive club of four-time women’s French Open champions with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Jasmine Paolini.
The 23-year-old from Poland became only the fourth woman to win four Roland Garros singles titles in the Open era, joining Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Justine Henin.
She is also the first player to claim three successive women’s titles in Paris since Henin in 2007. Monica Seles was the first to do so, triumphing from 1990-92.
“I’m really proud of myself, because the expectations obviously have been pretty high from the outside. Pressure, as well,” said Swiatek.
“I’m a perfectionist, so there is always pressure behind me. But I think I’m fine with handling my own pressure.
“It’s when the pressure from the outside hits me, then it’s a little bit worse. But I managed it really well at this tournament.”
Swiatek’s latest coronation came as no surprise, but her run to the title was not without its hiccups — and tears.
She saved a match point against Naomi Osaka in the second round, later weeping in the gym as her emotions took over.
“I honestly thought that I’m going to be out of the tournament,” Swiatek recalled after her third-round win.
“Even though I felt something on court, it kind of hit me after. I was happy that I won, but I still felt like I was really on the edge. So, yeah, I just cried.”
From that point, nobody could get close to Swiatek, who conceded a mere 11 games from the fourth round onwards — the joint-fewest en route to winning a women’s major in the Open era.
The world No.1 also completed a Madrid-Rome-Roland Garros treble. The only other woman in history to do it in the same season is Serena Williams.
“This tournament has been pretty surreal with its beginning and with second round, and then I was able to get my game better and better every match,” said Swiatek.
Ominously for her rivals, the escape act against Osaka has filled the Pole with even greater resolve.
“For sure it gives me the feeling that I should always believe in myself, that I can find my tennis even if I’m in big trouble, you know and with this tennis, fight back,” said Swiatek. “It gives me confidence.”
MISSING SILVERWARE
At 23, she has won the same number of French Open titles as Rafael Nadal, the record 14-time men’s champion, had at the same age.
With the exception of her 2022 US Open victory, Swiatek’s success in Paris far exceeds her results at the other Grand Slams.
But as a former Wimbledon junior champion and a winner of six WTA 1000 hardcourt events, it is surely only a matter of time until Swiatek hits upon the right formula to translate her clay form into more major titles on other surfaces.
It was after Nadal’s fourth Roland Garros that the Spaniard went on to lift his maiden Wimbledon trophy.
Swiatek, who said before the tournament it was “too early” to consider herself the ‘Queen of Clay’, again was reluctant to draw comparisons with her idol Nadal.
Swiatek has yet to make it past the quarter-finals of the main draw at Wimbledon, and is not setting any specific goals.
“I don’t expect a lot. The balls are different. Overall tennis is different on grass. I’ll just see and I’ll work hard to play better there,” she said.
DOUBLES DELIGHT
El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo and his Croatian partner Mate Pavic prevailed in a battle of nerves to edge Italian pair Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-5, 6-3 in the final and win the French Open men’s doubles title at Roland Garros on Saturday.
It was their first grand slam as a pair. Arevalo, 33, won the French Open men’s doubles title in 2022, with Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer, while the 30-year-old Pavic has now won men’s doubles titles in all four grand slams.
The first set was evenly matched until 5-5, when the Italians came close to the first break. But Arevalo and Pavic saved four break points to win the game and broke their opponents in the next game to clinch the set.
Bolelli and Vavassori, who reached the Australian Open final in January, broke early in the second set to go 2-1 up, but Arevalo and Pavic broke back in the next game and broke again to take a decisive 5-3 lead in the second set.
RESULTS (x denotes seeded player) Women’s final
Iga Swiatek (POL x1) bt Jasmine Paolini (ITA x12) 6-2, 6-1
Men’s doubles final
Marcelo Arevalo/Mate Pavic (ESA/CRO x9) bt Simone Bolelli/Andrea Vavassori (ITA/ITA x11) 7-5, 6-3