Iga Swiatek defends her singles title at the French Open, capturing her third title in four years after defeating Karolina Muchova in three tough sets in the final in Paris
Iga Swiatek brought both herself and her opponent to tears after an epic battle to win her third French Open title.
The 22-year-old Pole couldn’t contain her emotions when she finally saw an unexpectedly tough challenge from the unannounced Czech Karolina Muchova to maintain her record of 100 per cent in the grand finals.
Muchova had to be consoled by guest of honor Chris Evert on the Roland Garros stage after letting go of a 4-3 lead, with an interruption of service, in a deciding set that 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 number 43 from the Czech Republic, who won 6-2 5-7 6- in two hours and 46 minutes. 4 fell.
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 have won their first four Grand Slam finals. She is also the youngest since Serena Williams to reach that number and while she has a long way to go before coming close to Rafael Nadal’s dominance on clay courts, she has made a start.
Iga Swiatek retained the French Open trophy with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory over Karolina Muchova
The world number 1 was overcome with emotion after taking her third title in Paris on Saturday
Opponent Karolina Muchova forced herself back to the same level after trailing 3-0 in the second set
The defending champion got to hear firsthand why her opponent managed to beat world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals.
Unsurprisingly, Muchova has already reached the last eight at Wimbledon twice, with a game of pleasant variety, rich in slices vaguely reminiscent of Ash Barty. She would now have achieved more had it not been for injuries and in the latter part of 2022 she was on the comeback trail at the Shrewsbury Challenger when she was ranked 158th in the world.
The daughter of an assistant manager in her country’s top football league, she is a strong athlete but lacked experience on such a big stage. That became apparent early on.
Swiatek raced to a 3-0 lead, and when she followed it up with an early service break in the second inning, things seemed to be going very smoothly. By this time, the Pole had won the first seven sets of all of her major finals, a feat unmatched by any player of either sex.
There had been many unforced errors, but then came the comeback as the champion began to mimic her in the error department by getting uncharacteristically nervous.
Muchova’s superior net play took her to 2-0 in the decider, before Swiatek started playing as she had in the first set, especially her backhand firing again. When she broke for 4-3 there was quite a setback ahead, but it was now that the Pole showed her champion tribe with a late wave.
Swiatek seemed to have everything under control before she was terrified by her Czech opponent
Unseeded Muchova will move into the top 20 in the world after her run to the final in Paris
She broke to win the match, with the anticlimactic ending coming in the form of a double fault, adding to the Czech’s total of 38 unforced fouls.
Swiatek’s first attempt to lift the trophy failed when the lid fell off and had to be retrieved, but on the second attempt she raised it high above her head. But she said: ‘The match was really intense, a lot of ups and downs. Last year was the confirmation that the first was no 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 braver, I didn’t think about the score anymore.’
Muchova added, “It was so close and yet so far away. That’s what you get when you play against one of the best.’Swiatek has yet to translate her game to grass and has never progressed beyond the fourth round at the All England Club. Based on the evidence to date, if they meet again there, it would be the Czech who could prevail.