At Roland Garros,
Worst possible end for the best women’s final at Roland-Garros since the Ice Age. After displaying ironclad composure on all of her tournament hot spots, including in the final, Karolina Muchova was betrayed by her nerves on a second ball. A double fault that no one saw coming, especially not Iga Swiatek. The Polish woman took a good second before kneeling down to celebrate her third victory at Porte d’Auteuil, and let herself be overwhelmed by her emotions. It must be said that in 2h46 of intense combat on the Chatrier, the 22-year-old Polish woman went through all the states. Insurance, first. A set a break ahead, it seemed like nothing could stop the Swiatek tornado.
But if we have learned one thing about your opponent during this fortnight, it is that you should never bury him before the last point (hello Sabalenka). “We knew with my team that this final would be very difficult to play,” said the winner. From a disappointing one-sided final, we therefore moved on to a titanic fight with aces, amortizations and various variations of Muchova, of which we now expect a lot at Wimbledon, where her game will undoubtedly be best expressed. Special mention for the third set, where dramatic heights were reached. The Czech broke the owner of the place twice and shook all of Warsaw, but never managed to keep her serve behind.
The best matches of the 2nd week were in the women’s draw
In view of the scenario and the many points to raise the public on the Central court, a question imposes itself on us: apart from sexism, what argument will there remain for the detractors of women’s tennis, which will have been by far the biggest source of entertainment in the second half of the fortnight? Where the men’s table will have disappointed, like the aborted shock between Djokovic and Alcaraz or the poor performance of Tsitsipas against the same Spaniard, there are several matches with a high dose of adrenaline among the ladies.
- Sorribes Tormo vs Haddad Maia: 3rd longest women’s match ever at 3:51 in a Suzanne Lenglen – best court for epic atmospheres. The Brazilian emerged victorious from a match without a loser. “I loved this match”, even admitted Sorribes Tormo.
- Haddad Maia vs Ons Jabeur: Led 6-3 and with two break points to defend in the second set, the Brazilian found the resources to stay alive, go to the tie-break, win it and then crack the Tunisian. A model of selflessness.
- Muchova vs Sabalenka: You know the story. Sabalenka gets a match point at 5-2 on the service of the Czech. The Belarusian would not have said no to a double fault from her opponent, but she saved that for the final.
- Swiatek vs Muchova: We take bets. The men’s final will last less than the day before.
And a Swiatek fail to finish
So many beautiful posters of which the ticket holders responsible for the great emptiness in the stands and the obstinate who prefer to close their eyes rather than apologize to women’s tennis have deprived themselves. Too bad for them, we will have laughed until the end: Iga Swiatek completely messed up her celebration on the podium during the presentation of the Suzanne-Lenglen trophy, the lid of which she knocked off while brandishing it. Again, the worst ending for an anthology match.