Polish Iga Swiatek with the Suzanne-Lenglen cup after her fourth victory at Roland-Garros, June 8, 2024. THIBAULT CAMUS / AP
At Roland-Garros, a small refrain of inevitability now floats over women’s tennis. Saturday June 8, for the fourth time in five editions, La Mazurka de Dombrowski – the Polish anthem – resonated on the Philippe-Chatrier court. But unlike the mazurka, a traditional dance in three beats, Iga Swiatek’s relentless score against the Italian Jasmine Paolini will sometimes have sounded a bit monotonous, for lack of real opposition. In one hour and eight short minutes, the Pole, already victorious on Parisian clay in 2020, 2022 and 2023, won, without difficulty, against the surprise of the tournament (6-2, 6-1). His fifth Grand Slam tournament coronation – with the US Open in 2022.
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At just 23 years old – she blew out her candles on May 31 – the equal world number 1, with three consecutive coronations, the Belgian Justine Henin (from 2005 to 2007) and Monica Seles (from 1990 to 1992), then Yugoslav and since naturalized American. There is still a long way to go before one day reaching, or even surpassing, Chris Evert and his seven Porte d’Auteuil titles. But the American, who came to present the trophies at the end of the final on Saturday, may have greeted her heir. “At her age, Iga already has four Roland-Garrosbreathed Jasmine Paolini at a press conference, still smiling despite her defeat. Of course, there are three left to win, it’s tough, but I think she can do it. »
The little Italian (1.63 m), who, at 28, was playing her first Grand Slam final, tried to summarize the puzzle represented by her « immense » opponent of the day: “She plays incredibly well. She takes the ball early, doesn’t give you time, makes few mistakes. And she defends very well. »
The suspense hardly lasted
For a quarter of an hour, however, the meeting seemed to hesitate. Swiatek made a series of mistakes (seven in the first three games), and Paolini, on springs and a little cloud, put great energy into his shots. The Italian made the break to lead 2-1. Archfavorite, could the Pole falter against the 15th player in the world, even for a few moments, as during the previous edition, where she had to battle, to everyone’s surprise, for three sets and almost as many hours against the Czech Karolina Muchova?
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This was not the case and fans of suspense were quickly disappointed. In the next game, Iga Swiatek took her serve from the Italian and activated the steamroller mode. A cocktail of devastating topspin forehands, effective court coverage, all sprinkled with rare intensity in each ball hit. The Pole could even allow herself to make a bad choice from time to time, as the gap with her opponent seemed so great. In three quarters of an hour, she played ten consecutive games, before leaving one to her opponent, just before concluding.
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2024-06-08 07:00:00
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