Ruthless Iga Swiatek triumphs at French Open – Technologist

At Roland Garros, there is now an air of inevitability in women’s tennis. On Saturday, June 8, for the fourth time in five editions, “Dabrowski Mazurka” – the Polish anthem – resounded on the Philippe-Chatrier Court. But unlike the mazurka, a traditional three-beat dance, Iga Swiatek’s relentless performance against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini almost seemed a little monotonous, in the absence of any real opposition. In just one hour and eight minutes, the Polish player, already victorious on Paris clay in 2020, 2022 and 2023, easily beat the tournament’s surprise contender (6-2, 6-1). This marks her fifth Grand Slam title – with the US Open in 2022.

At just 23 years old – she celebrated her birthday on May 31 – the world No. 1 has now tied, with three consecutive titles, Belgium’s Justine Hénin (2005-2007) and Monica Seles, then of Yugoslavia and now a naturalized American (1990-1992). There’s still a long way to go before Chris Evert and her seven French Open titles are matched or even surpassed. But the American athlete, who came to hand over the trophies at the end of the final on Saturday, may well have saluted her heiress. “She won already four titles, and she’s 23,” said Paolini at the press conference, still smiling despite her defeat. When asked if she thought Swiatek could beat Evert’s record, Paolini replied, “Definitely. It’s tough, you know, it’s not easy. Every year it’s tough to win a tournament.”

The petite Italian (1.63 m), who at 28 was playing in her first Grand Slam final, tried to sum up the headache posed by her “huge” opponent of the day: “She’s playing unbelievable here. She plays incredibly well. She’s taking the balls early, taking time to you, but also using rotation. She can defend really, really well.”

Short-lived suspense

For a quarter of an hour, however, the match seemed to falter. Swiatek made a string of errors (7 in the first three games) and Paolini, on springs and a little cloud, put a lot of energy into her shots. The Italian broke back to lead 2-1. Would the Polish top seed falter against the world’s 15^th-ranked player, even for a few moments, as she did in the previous edition, when she had to battle, to everyone’s surprise, for three sets and almost as many hours against the Czech star Karolina Muchova?

But it was not to be, and suspense seekers were soon to have had their fill. In the next game, Swiatek took her serve from the Italian and activated her steamroller mode: a cocktail of devastating forehand lifts and effective court coverage, sprinkled with a rare intensity on every ball hit. She could even afford a bad choice now and then, so great did the gap seem to be with her opponent. In the space of three quarters of an hour, she played 10 games in a row, before leaving one to her opponent just before the end.

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