Top-seeded Iga Swiatek successfully defended her French Open title and won her third championship in Paris by posting a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over unseeded Karolina Muchova on Saturday.
Swiatek captured her fourth career Grand Slam championship in impressive fashion and became the youngest woman since Monica Seles from 1990-92 to claim consecutive titles at Roland Garros. The 22-year-old from Poland improved to 4-0 in major finals, joining Seles and Naomi Osaka as the lone women in the Open Era to win each of their first four Grand Slam title matches.
Swiatek was so charged during her post-match celebration that she inadvertently knocked the lid off the trophy. Undaunted, she was able to put the lid back on and sealed the trophy with a kiss.
Despite the win, Swiatek told her supporters that she knows that she’s been tough to take on her journey to glory.
“Sorry for being such a pain in the …,” Swiatek said. “I’ll try to do better. I know that we won this tournament, but it’s not easy. Being on tour for a couple for weeks without breaks, it’s tough. I’m really happy that we can feel satisfied right now and celebrate.”
Swiatek appeared to be on her way to a convincing victory after winning nine of the first 11 games of the match. Muchova, however, won the next three matches to level the match and closed out the second set with a service winner.
Muchova claimed a quick 2-0 lead in the final set and pushed it to 4-3 before Swiatek countered with a late surge, capped by a double fault from her opponent to end the match in 2 hours, 46 minutes.
“In the third, it was all about belief. It was getting rid of all these thoughts about the score and doing my best,” Swiatek told NBC Sports after the match.
Swiatek also avenged her lone career meeting against Muchova, a three-set setback in Prague in 2019.
Muchova, who is ranked No. 43 in the world, was denied in her bid to become the fourth unseeded woman to win the French Open. The 26-year-old from the Czech Republic, in fact, was hoping to join Swiatek in that group.
“This is so close but so far, but that’s what happens when you play one of the best in Iga,” an emotional Muchova said.
–Field Level Media
