Iga Swiatek won her third consecutive French Open championship and fourth in five years after beating Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 in the final on Saturday.
Swiatek trailed 2-1 early on Court Philippe Chatrier, but proceeded to win 10 straight games to take the first set and take a 5-0 lead in the second. The number one in women’s tennis stretched her undefeated streak to 21 matches at Roland Garros, where her lifetime record is 35-2.
The 23-year-old Pole became the first woman to lift the champion’s cup three times in a row in Paris since Justine Henin between 2005 and 2007.
“It’s amazing to be here, I love it and I want to come back every year,” Swiatek said at the awards ceremony. “It is a very vibrant tournament.”
Swiatek also won the 2020 French Open and the 2022 US Open, and went 5-0 in Grand Slam finals.
“Iga, I have to congratulate you,” said Paolini, a 28-year-old Italian, who played her first Slam final. “I think playing with you is the toughest challenge in this sport.”
The 12th seed had never gotten past the second round in any of tennis’s big four until she advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open in January. Paolini will compete in the women’s doubles final on Sunday alongside her compatriot Sara Errani against Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova.
After getting a huge scare in the second round against Naomi Osaka, when Swiatek saved a match point, this was her fifth straight victory. Swiatek won every set in that stretch, giving up just 17 games.
“Iga, I have to congratulate you,” said Paolini have to say congratulations to you, Iga,” said the 12th-seeded Paolini, a 28-year-old from Italy appearing in her first Slam final. “I think to play you here is the toughest challenge in this sport.”
On Saturday, shouts of “Let’s go Jasmine!” from the two rows at the bottom of the stadium that were populated with Paolini supporters, all wearing t-shirts with one of the colors of the Italian flag: green, white or red.
In the toss of the coin, Paolini remained silent. Swiatek, meanwhile, moved restlessly from side to side.
After the Pole took the first point of the match, a fan shouted in French: “Jasmine, it’s not over!”
And, for a brief moment, he seemed to be right. Swiatek faltered for a while, missing a break point in the second game, then losing serve — with a poorly executed forehand — to trail 2-1 after 13 minutes.
It was Swiatek’s seventh unforced error of the afternoon; Paolini had barely committed one.
Was a disaster brewing? Could Paolini fight and win?
It didn’t take long for Swiatek to put things in order.
