FRENCH OPEN.Paris. By Emiliano Naftali
Iga Swiatek is a queen and has just conquered Roland Garros at the young age of 22. The Polish player is the first woman to successfully defend the title in 16 years. She defeated the Czech player Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, and 6-4 in 2 hours and 46 minutes.
She now has four Grand Slam titles, having won Paris in 2020, 2022, and 2023, as well as the US Open in 2022. She emulated the last woman to successfully defend her Parisian title, Belgian player Justine Henin, who achieved it in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007.
The champion once said, “I cried all night because he had lost, and he, sitting calmly, told me: it’s just a tennis match, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. It seems easy, but not everyone is capable of applying it.”
The player from Warsaw showed dominance from the beginning of the match when she quickly took a 3-0 lead, firmly positioned on the baseline.
The Czech player Muchova, who had eliminated Argentine player Nadia Podoroska (103) in the second round, chose a strategy of taking risks in every shot to unsettle the Polish player, causing her to make more mistakes than usual.
Swiatek won the first set 6-3 with two service breaks (2-0 and 6-2) and then took a 3-0 lead again with a streak of five consecutive games won, turning the final into a monologue.
However, in that segment of the match, the Polish player made a mistake when she believed she had already won and relaxed, allowing for a great comeback from the Czech player.
Muchova, 26 years old, stopped accumulating unforced errors and reacted by holding her serve and breaking Swiatek’s to reduce the deficit to 3-2, and then equalizing at 3-3, putting pressure on her opponent for the first time in the final.
Muchova’s comeback was based on two shots: a heavy and deep crosscourt forehand that caused a lot of trouble for Swiatek, and a sliced backhand to defend and retrieve impossible balls.
She also added excellent serves (with six aces) and great returns that allowed her to turn the situation around, winning the set 7-5 and taking a 2-0 lead in the third set.
Swiatek changed her demeanor, started complaining out loud every time she made a mistake, perhaps because the idea of losing the final started to creep into her mind.
Nevertheless, the Polish player improved the accuracy of her shots, equalizing in a highly emotional match. Once again, she dominated with her forehand, taking a 5-4 lead against Muchova, who gradually faded without the consistency of the previous set.
Muchova lost her service for the third time in the set, allowing the Polish player to seal the victory and the title with a 6-4 score.