In Paris, on court Philippe Chatrier, Iga Swiatek defeated Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 as she came twice from behind (break down) in the decider to seal her third French open.
The WTA #1 was leading the 2nd set 3-0 before the Muchova began to turn the tables by stealing the second set. As a result the Pole was forced to concede a set for the first time in a slam final. Swiatek didn’t have to close the match as the Czech couldn’t hold her serve and double faulted at 5-4 to give away a teary eyed Swiatek her third Coupe Suzanne Lenglen.
The 22-year old, delivering her victory speech, said, “First of all, congrats to Karolina, members of my team are witnesses that ever since we first played, I knew we would play tough matches, tough finals because I was really struck with your variety on court and I really hope we’re going to have many more finals.”
The Pole continued, “I wouldn’t be here without my team, sorry for being such a pain in the… I’ll try to do better, I know I won this tournament but it wasn’t easy being on tour for a couple of weeks without any breaks, it’s tough so I’m really happy we can feel satisfied right now and just celebrate, so thank you guys. Thank you to my family as well, so many people came from Poland, I really feel the love so thank you.”
“I know I’ve been saying that every year but it’s not about the performance, I really love being here and it’s my favourite place on tour so thank you everybody, tournament sponsors, people behind the scenes, you make this tournament so great for us that it’s always a pleasure to come back and give 100% so thank you guys.”
Despite getting humbled at the final hurdle, Muchova has a celebratory fortnight as the Czech claimed a career-high ranking of #16 after reaching the maiden Grand Slam final.
Iga Swiatek at Slams
Swiatek has shattered many records with her latest triumph at RG as she became the youngest ever to grab four major titles since Serena Williams (20) in 2002. The Pole is also the youngest player to win French Open in consecutive years since Monica Seles (19) who achieved the feat in 1992.
Here are her four Grand Slam final victories:
RG 2020: beating Sofia Kenin, 6-4, 6-1
RG 2022: beating Coco Gauff, 6-1, 6-3
US Open 2022: beating Ons Jabeur, 6-2, 7-6(5)
RG 2023: beating Karolina Muchova, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4