PARIS (AP) — Iga Swiatek admits that she is a big fan of the series “Friends.” She even got to exchange some balls with actress Courtney Cox—who played Monica Geller in the series—shortly before she started the French Open.
On Saturday, shortly after she won her fourth Roland Garros title and her fifth Grand Slam trophy, Swiatek put on the sneakers her sponsor gave her with the phrase: “In which she wins her fifth Grand Slam,” a reference to the names of the chapters of the series.
At this rate, the celebration will likely need to be updated and continually updated. He only turned 23 a little over a week ago and the way he is racking up titles and overwhelming his rivals, especially on clay, it’s easy to assume there will be many more championships in the future.
“She is the queen here,” said French Open director Amelie Mauresmo, who became world number 1 and won two Grand Slam titles.
Even before this triumph, which she capped with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Jasmine Paolini in Saturday’s final, Chris Evert assured Swiatek would eventually surpass her record of seven women’s titles at Roland Garros and observed: “She has all the ingredients to be a champion. She really she has them.”
When asked if he agreed, Paolini laughed and responded: “Definitely.”
Swiatek is less likely to say anything similar.
“It’s nice to hear those things about me. But I still don’t think about those categories, because even being here and winning five slams seems unreal. “I never would have expected it when I was younger,” said Swiatek, who is 35-2 in Paris, including the current 21-match winning streak that makes her the first winner of three straight titles since Justine Henin between 2005 and 2007.
In addition to winning five of the last five Roland Garros tournaments, Swiatek has won the 2022 US Open championship. He has been a semifinalist at the Australian Open and reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, which begins on July 1.
Improving on grass appears to be the next logical step in Swiatek’s development.
But instead of looking ahead, we must look at what has happened in the first half of 2024.
Swiatek is 43-5, with five titles this season. This means that he has won half of the tournaments he has played in and reached the semi-finals in two others.
Her lead at the top of the WTA rankings is so wide that she would have maintained No. 1 even with a first-round loss in Paris.
“These numbers, let’s say, are not normal. “They are incredible,” Paolini admitted. “She is an incredible player.”
She is 5-0 in major title matches and acknowledged that she still feels pressure before those big moments. Including Saturday.
Her lead atop the WTA rankings is so massive that she would have remained at No. 1 next week even with a first-round loss in Paris.
“It was an emotional victory because I felt great stress yesterday and today morning. And I knew that if I was going to focus only on tennis, I have to fight until the end, everything went the way I wanted,” Swiatek said. “I felt proud of myself.”
