On a sunny but temperate afternoon at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, Poland’s Iga Swiatek breezed to her fourth French Open championship title, defeating 12th seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-2, 6-1. The match was over in just 68 minutes.
With her victory, Swiatek—who entered today’s final on a hot streak, having won 18 consecutive matches on clay and 20 consecutive matches at Roland-Garros—has become only the fourth woman in history, after Chris Evert, Steffi Graff, and Justine Henin, to win the French four times. She also becomes the first woman to win any major three times in a row since Serena Williams’s 2012-2014 run at the US Open.
World number one Swiatek, 23, and Paolini, 28, had played each other twice before—most recently, in the first round of the 2022 US Open—with Swiatek winning both times. “We played a long time ago, so I need to prepare tactically and find out where her game is now,” Swiatek told reporters before the final. And indeed, Paolini had enjoyed a strong tournament in Paris, cruising into her first major final with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in the semifinals.
Early in the first set of the final, it seemed like we might have a match: after Swiatek held her opening game, Paolini got up a break, taking a 2-1 lead. But it wasn’t to last; Swiatek would win the next five games, ending that set in just 35 minutes, before proving utterly indomitable in the match’s 30-minute second set.
At the trophy presentation, which also celebrated the legacies of Evert (who won the first of her seven French Open singles titles 50 years ago) and Martina Navratilova (who, in 1984, trounced Evert here 6-3, 6-1, becoming the first woman to win four consecutive major titles since Margaret Court in 1970), both Swiatek and Paolini offered brief remarks.
First up was Paolini, who readily acknowledged that playing Swiatek at the French “is the toughest challenge in this sport.” She went on to thank her family, thank her team, and call the last two weeks “the best days of my life.” And besides, she added, “They’re still going, because tomorrow I have the doubles final!” (That’s right: Tune back in on Sunday to see Paolini and fellow Italian Sara Errani face off against America’s sweetheart Coco Gauff and her doubles partner, Kateřina Siniaková of the Czech Republic.)
Then, it was Swiatek’s time to wield the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen. “Congrats for an amazing tournament,” she told Paolini. “With your game I think you can do a lot on clay. I think we’re going to have many more matches in final rounds.” She then thanked her own family and team before acknowledging the fans in the stands, who stayed behind her even after Naomi Osaka nearly knocked Swiatek out in the second round. “It’s been a really emotional tournament, so thank you for supporting me,” Swiatek said.
Next up for her? The 2024 Olympic Games—also at the Stade Roland Garros—where Swiatek will be eyeing Poland‘s first gold medal in tennis. How is she feeling about her chances? “It’s going to be exciting,” she said, smiling.
