Iga Swiatek has won the French Open for the fourth time. In the final, the 23-year-old beat outsider Jasmine Paolini from Italy 6:2, 6:1. “I love this place and can’t wait to come here every year,” said Swiatek.
The women’s final took place one day before the men’s final between German Olympic champion Alexander Zverev and Spain’s young star Carlos Alcaraz. For the world number one, it was the third victory in a row in the Paris tennis stadium Stade Roland Garros. Only two other players in the tournament’s history had previously achieved this: Belgian Justine Henin and Serbian Monica Seles.
With her 21st consecutive victory in a French Open match, Swiatek also overtook tennis icon Steffi Graf in this category. After just 68 minutes, the favorite converted her first match point and won a Grand Slam title for the fifth time in her career.
Paolini moves into the top ten of the world rankings
Paolini, who was only able to keep up at the beginning of her debut in a Grand Slam final, finished in second place. However, she 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. In addition, she will move into the top ten for the first time as seventh in the world rankings from Monday.
Swiatek’s statistics and performance have impressed the tennis world. “These are numbers that I know from a man in the men’s world. His name is Rafael Nadal, and it started the same way,” said Boris Becker. Nadal is the undisputed number one with 14 French Open titles.
“We will see in 14 years whether the journey will be similar,” said Swiatek, who thinks comparisons with Nadal are somewhat exaggerated: “For me, he is above all others, he is a total legend.” But it is “cool” and also makes her “proud that I am mentioned in the same sentence as Nadal.”
Iga Swiatek has won the French Open for the fourth time. In the final, the 23-year-old beat outsider Jasmine Paolini from Italy 6:2, 6:1. “I love this place and can hardly wait to come here every year,” said Swiatek.
The women’s final took place one day before the men’s final between German Olympic champion Alexander Zverev and Spain’s young star Carlos Alcaraz. For the world number one, it was the third victory in a row in the Paris tennis stadium Stade Roland Garros. Only two other players in the tournament’s history had previously achieved this: Belgian Justine Henin and Serbian Monica Seles.
