Iga Swiatek defends her French Open singles title, seizing her third title in four years after defeating Karolina Muchova in three tough sets in the final in Paris
Iga Swiatek reduced both herself and her opponent to tears after an epic struggle to win her third French Open title.
The 22 year-old Pole could not contain her emotions when she finally saw off an unexpectedly severe challenge from unheralded Czech Karolina Muchova to retain her 100 per cent record in Major finals.
Muchova needed to be comforted by guest of honour Chris Evert on the Roland Garros podium after letting slip a lead of 4-3, with a break of serve, in a deciding set that had initially looked unlikely.
‘This was so close but so far, but that’s what happens when you play the best in the world,’ said the world No43 from the Czech Republic, who fell 6-2 5-7 6-4 in two hours and 46 minutes.
That Swiatek is currently the best in the women’s game is beyond question and she joins Monica Seles and Naomi Osaka as the only players in the post-1968 Open Era to win their first four Grand Slam finals. She is also the youngest since Serena Williams to reach that number at all and, while she has a long way before getting close to Rafael Nadal’s dominance on clay, she has made a start.
Iga Swiatek retained the French Open trophy with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 win over Karolina Muchova
The world No 1 was overcome with emotion after sealing her third title in Paris on Saturday
Opponent Karolina Muchova forced her way back level after trailing 3-0 in the second set
The defending champion was given a first hand taste of why her opponent had managed to take down world No2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals.
It is not surprising that Muchova has reached the last eight at Wimbledon twice already, with a game of pleasing variety, rich with slices that is vaguely reminiscent of Ash Barty. She would have achieved more by now if it were not for injuries and in the latter part of 2022 was on the comeback trail at the Shrewsbury Challenger when ranked 158 in the world.
The daughter of an assistant manager in the top football league of her country, she is a strong athlete but had a dearth of experience on such a big stage. That showed early on.
Swiatek raced to a 3-0 lead and when she followed that up with an early break of serve in the second it looked like being a very straightforward affair. By then the Pole had won the first seven sets of all her Major finals, a feat unequalled by any player of either sex.
There had been unforced errors galore, but then came the comeback as the champion began to mimick her in the error department in becoming uncharacteristically flustered.
Muchova’s superior net play carried her to 2-0 in the decider, before Swiatek started playing like she had done in the first set, her backhand firing up again particularly. When she broke for 4-3 a significant upset was in the offing, but it was now that the Pole showed her champion pedigree with a late surge.
Swiatek looked in control before being given an almighty scare by her Czech opponent
The unseeded Muchova will rise into the world’s top 20 after her run to the final in Paris
She broke to win the match, with the anti-climactic ending coming in the form of a double fault, adding to the Czech’s overall tally of 38 unforced errors.
Swiatek’s first attempt to lift the trophy went wrong when the lid fell off and had to be retrieved but she raised it high above her head on the second try. But she said: ‘The match was really intense, a lot of ups and downs. Last year was confirmation that the first one wasn’t a coincidence, this is a bit different.
‘I felt a bit exhausted at the end, since Stuttgart [mid-April] I haven’t been home. In the third set I knew I had to be a bit more courageous, I stopped thinking about the score.’
Muchova added: ‘It was so close yet so far. That’s what happens when you play one of the best.’Swiatek has yet to translate her game to the grass and has never been past the fourth round at the All England Club. On the evidence so far, if they met again there it is the Czech who might well prevail.