Iga Swiatek takes another French Open Championship

Iga Swiatek is once again the queen of clay.

World No. 1 from Poland, Swiatek defeated Czech Karolina Muchova to claim the French Open women’s singles on Saturday. Muchova, whose smooth and athletic play has been one of the sport’s best-kept secrets for years, struggled with mistakes from the start as Swiatek showed off the clinical, relentless approach that had made her the best player in the world for more than a year .

Swiatek defeated Muchova in three sets, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Swiatek has been virtually unbeatable at Roland Garros since 2020. With Saturday’s victory, she captured her third French Open singles title in four years. Since 2019, her record in the tournament on her way to the final was 28-2, which may not rival Rafael Nadal’s 112-3 record, but gives her time. Swiatek just turned 22 last week and has given few hints that she’s going to slow down.

Apart from the occasional battle with her psyche, she seems to get better every year, especially at the French Open, a tournament she loves more than any other tournament.

For Muchova, the final was the culmination of a remarkable comeback a year ago when she sprained her ankle in a third-round singles match at Roland Garros and was forced to withdraw. The injury was the latest in a string of ailments that have long prevented her from realizing the potential that so many coaches, players and pundits of the game have seen in her for years.

That loss dropped her out of the top 200, forcing her to play a series of smaller tournaments to regain her status. She entered this tournament ranked 43rd in the world, although few in tennis believed that there were 42 women better than Muchova.

But playing in a Grand Slam final for the first time is a challenge for any player, especially against the best in the world. Swiatek had made it through her first five matches of the tournament. She won four of her first six sets without conceding a game. After that, she lost only seven in her next two matches.

Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia made Swiatek uncomfortable for a while in the semis, pushing her down the court and into a tiebreak in the second set, but she arrived in the final with every reason to believe she would take the trophy at the end of would hold up for the day.

That belief grew stronger in the opening minutes of the game, as the fluidity and blend of power and finesse that Muchova plays with on her best days was nowhere to be found. She shot balls wide and long, popped easy shots into the middle of the net and gave Swiatek too many free points.

There is no clock that regulates the length of a tennis match, but a big part of the sport is about controlling time, i.e. finding a way to make an opponent feel rushed, as if they have no has a chance to get to the ball while she’s figuring out how to give yourself all the time in the world. That’s been Swiatek’s signature for over a year, and it’s exactly what she did with Muchova on Saturday.

There was a time two years ago when she was one of the most creative players in the world. Her game featured crouched backhands and a repertoire of forehands with six different types of spin. There was something artistic about it all, but she didn’t win nearly that much.

Now Swiatek doesn’t build up as many winning points as she grabs them, going for winners with her big, rolling forehand at the first opportunity. The shorter the point, the less she has to think, the more she can take her brain, the shakiest part of her game, out of the equation.

She never gets into a match easily. She tries to dominate from the start. When one point ends, she rushes to start the next one like she’s rushing to catch a train, plowing through sets and matches like she’s got tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.

To give Muchova a chance, she had to control the clock by extending points and find enough time to feel comfortable on the biggest stage of her career.

Swiatek had her first break from Muchova’s service and the lead after just seven minutes. She led 6-2, 3-0 after an hour, with Muchova still trying to find her footing.

And then she did. Shot by shot, point by point, match by match, she did. The strokes became sharp and precise, the points extended, she slid so gracefully into her shots at times it seemed she was dancing. Her salvos stung.

Swiatek wobbled, and as the match got to the two o’clock mark it was all tied at one set apiece. Two minutes later, Muchova broke Swiatek’s serve for the third time in a row to take her first lead of the day.

Muchova and Swiatek had not played a competitive game since 2019 before either of them established themselves at the top of the game. But they have practiced many times since then, and Swiatek is delighted with Muchova’s talents.

“Great feeling,” Swiatek said of her competitor. “She can also speed up the game. She plays with that kind of, I don’t know, freedom in her movements. And she has great technique.”

It was all there Saturday on one of the sport’s biggest stages, in one of the great Grand Slam finals of recent times. Swiatek, who had sprinted to a seemingly insurmountable lead, faltered as Muchova found her form, then fought a service breakdown twice in the deciding set and found the answers and shots she needed.

Swiatek had never lost a Grand Slam final and won all those matches in straight sets. One of the few lingering questions was how she would react if she was thrust into the crucible of a third set with everything on the line.

At first it didn’t look good. She double-faulted to give Muchova another break of service to begin the deciding set and looked set as Muchova shot into a 2–0 lead.

Mary Carillo, the veteran tennis commentator, likes to divide the players into two groups: those with fangs and those who don’t, those who not only win from the front but enjoy the chance to fight and fight to the last ball and those who packs it.

Muchova had shown her tusks in the semifinals and by making her comeback on Saturday. Now it was Swiatek’s turn. She won 12 of the next 14 points to take back the lead, only to see Muchova bite again, turning the third set into a roller coaster.

She charged forward behind deep balls that had Swiatek on the run and finished points with touch or an explosion or a line-sticking swipe, holding her own serve and breaking Swiatek’s for a 4–3 lead. It lasted seven minutes, until an ill-timed drop shot hit the bottom of the net and Swiatek equalized again.

While Muchova served to stay in the match, Swiatek dead-aimed her return at Muchova’s feet and nailed her goals, leaving Muchova on her heels and into a quick hole. Double match point came when Muchova pulled a forehand wide. With a double fault from Muchova, Swiatek had her crown, the queen of clay, for one more year.