tennis
Pure dominance: Swiatek wins French Open for the fourth time
Poland’s Iga Swiatek kisses the trophy after her win at the French Open. Photo
© Thibault Camus/AP/dpa
The Pole crowns herself once again as the queen of the clay courts in Paris. Comparisons with Nadal are the result. In the final against Jasmine Paolini, she leaves no doubt about her triumph.
Iga Swiatek threw her racket onto the red clay of Court Philippe Chatrier, sank to her knees and screamed her immense joy. The Pole has made tennis history with her fourth title at the French Open. In a one-sided final, the 23-year-old beat the hopeless outsider Jasmine Paolini from Italy 6:2, 6:1 and became the youngest four-time winner of a Grand Slam tournament on clay.
After only 68 minutes, the top favourite converted her first match point. A short time later, she proudly held out the silver Suzanne Lenglen Cup and gave him a tender kiss.
One day before the men’s final between the German Olympic champion Alexander Zverev (27) and Spain’s young star Carlos Alcaraz (21), Swiatek underlined her current dominance in women’s tennis – especially on clay. For the world number one, it was the third triumph in a row at the Stade Roland Garros, something that only two other players in the tournament’s history had achieved before: the Belgian Justine Henin (2005 to 2007) and the Serbian Monica Seles (1990 to 1992).
Steffi Graf’s record broken
With her 21st consecutive victory in a French Open match, Swiatek also surpassed tennis icon Steffi Graf (20) in this category. It was Swiatek’s fifth Grand Slam title in total.
Paolini, who was only able to keep up at the beginning of her debut in a Grand Slam final, still has another chance of winning the title in Paris. In the doubles final on Sunday, the 28-year-old will play with Sara Errani against US star Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova from the Czech Republic. She can also console herself with the fact that from Monday she will be seventh in the world rankings and will enter the top ten for the first time.
“The absolutely best player in the world won the tournament impressively and, after the moment of shock in the second round against Naomi Osaka, played like a one-piece,” said former national coach Barbara Rittner on Eurosport, referring to the match point that Swiatek saved against Osaka.
Numbers like Nadal
Swiatek’s impressive statistics at the most important clay court tournament in the world have impressed the tennis world. “These are numbers that I know from a man in the men’s competition. His name is Rafael Nadal, and it started the same way,” said tennis icon Boris Becker. Nadal, who was defeated by Zverev in the first round in what was probably his last appearance in Paris, is the undisputed clay court king with 14 French Open titles.
“We will see in 14 years whether the journey will be similar,” said Swiatek, who herself considers comparisons with the great Nadal to be somewhat exaggerated: “For me, he is above all, he is a total legend.” But it is “cool” and also makes her “proud that I am mentioned in the same sentence as Nadal.”
In the women’s competition, Chris Evert from the USA, with seven victories, is no longer that far behind Swiatek. At the very latest, the Pole will definitely be the new clay court queen of Paris.