(June 8, 2024) No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland soundly defeated first-time major finalist, Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 for her third straight Roland Garros title, fourth overall. The 23-year-old now holds five major titles – fourth French Opens and one U. S. title.
The match started off well for the 28-year-old Italian, the No. 12 seed, breaking the Pole’s serve to go up 2-1 in the first set but then the world No. 1 reeled off ten straight games, 12 of the next thirteen to close out the match in an hour and eight-minutes. Swiatek is now 35-2 at the French Open.
“I got broken at the beginning, so it wasn’t maybe perfect,” Swiatek said, “but I think the level was pretty high.”
“This tournament has been pretty surreal with its beginning and with the second round, and then I was able to get my game better and better every match. I’m really proud of myself, because the expectations obviously have been pretty high from the outside. Pressure, as well,” said Swiatek, “I’m happy that I just went for it and I was ready to deal with all of this — and I could win.”
“I never played a player that has this intensity before in my life,” Paolini said. “For me, right now, I think it was the most challenging match I played in my entire career.”
“You have to push, push, push every ball,” Paolini said of playing Swiatek. “If not, you have no chance.”
The Italian is also in the women’s doubles final on Sunday with partner Sara Errani against 2023 U.S. Open singles champion Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova.
Paolini will move up to No. 7 in the world on Monday.
Swiatek saved a match point in the second round against Naomi Osaka, she cruised through the rest of the tournament.
“This tournament has been pretty surreal with its beginning and with the second round, and then I was able to get my game better and better every match,” Swiatek she said after the match. “I’m really proud of myself, because the expectations obviously have been pretty high from the outside. Pressure, as well. I’m happy that I just went for it and I was ready to deal with all of this. Yeah, and I could win.
“Looking at the whole situation and the fact that during the finals, there is sometimes a lot of pressure, I think it was a really good match. I got broken at the beginning, so it wasn’t maybe perfect, but I think the level was pretty high. It wasn’t so easy as the score says. I think I played pretty well considering all these facts and the pressure.”
