Iga Swiatek is so effective, so gentle, with a racket in her hand, she never seems to shake a little and for months now she has never hit her.
The only time he looked a little shocked on Saturday on the Philippe Chatrier track was after his 6-1, 6-3 win over Coco Gauff in the final, which pushed the streak of victories of Swiatek, number 1, in 35 games and his streak. The title of the French Open has up to two.
It was then that tears flowed, first during the Polish national anthem — Swiatek is the only player in that nation to win an individual Grand Slam title — and again during the trophy ceremony.
“I just told Coco, ‘Don’t cry,'” said Swiatek, who claimed the 2020 French Open when he was still a teenager and qualified out of the top 50, “and what am I doing now?”
Gauff, an American who appeared in her first grand final at the age of 18, and a few weeks after celebrating her high school graduation with cap and dress photos near the Eiffel Tower, never had much of a chance, like most opponents against Swiatek lately.
Swiatek’s undefeated streak dates back to February and is equivalent to that of Venus Williams in 2000 as the longest of this century.
“The last two months have been really amazing and you totally deserve it,” Gauff, 18th seed, now 0-3 against Swiatek, told his 21-year-old rival in Paris, then added with a laughs: “Hopefully we can play more finals, and maybe I’ll win you someday.”
TARGET | Swiatek beats Gauff and wins second title at French Open:
Swiatek overtakes Gauff to win the second title of the French Open
Poland’s Iga Swiatek defeated American Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 at Roland Garros on Saturday to win her 35th straight game.
After winning her last six tournaments, improving to 42-3 this season, Swiatek has become a dominant tennis figure, with 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams out of action for nearly a year and three-time main champion Ash Barty announcing it. in March he would retire at the age of 25 and leave the No. 1 ranking.
This allowed Swiatek to climb to the top of the WTA, and she has proven to be a deserving resident there.
Early disorders
“Two years ago, winning that title was an amazing thing. Honestly, I never would have expected that,” Swiatek said. “But this time, I feel like I’ve worked hard and done my best to get here, even though it’s been pretty tough. The pressure was great.”
On the hottest day of the tournament, with a temperature of 28 degrees Celsius, only a few gusts of white in the blue sky at first turned into thick, premonitory gray clouds for the second set, accompanied by thunder.
Gauff didn’t start in the best way, a bit of early nervousness that would be understandable to any player in a debut on this stage.
The player on the other side of the net certainly had a lot to do with the way things were going.
Swiatek broke the service from the start, with a lot of help from Gauff, who put a right on the net, with a double foul, causing some sighs of “Awwwww” from a crowd of support, launched a right on the net and pushed. another long right.
When Gauff’s ongoing work right betrayed her again, she broke down again and was down 3-0 after just 15 minutes of action. Soon, the score was 4-0 in favor of Swiatek.
Not in all cases, of course, but Roland Garros spectators often offer their support to the underprivileged and to any player who is ahead of a particular match. Both applied to Gauff. So there were too many screams of “Come on, Coco!” There were repeated shouts of his two-syllable name ready to sing. And a fan shouted “Coconut, you can do it!”
When Gauff came up on the board holding on to the 4-1, the applause and roar were adequate to capture a set, not just a game.
As things seemed to move away from her, Gauff slapped her thigh or covered her eyes, shook her head, or looked at her parents in the bleachers.
Earn easily
What he never did was hesitate or concede anything.
Gauff started the second set by breaking Swiatek for the only time, and then holding on to go up 2-0. Could this be a much closer contest? Could Gauff push Swiatek into a third set?
No. Swiatek quickly recalibrated and reaffirmed himself, breaking for 2-all when Gauff’s propensity for mistakes returned.
Swiatek is not only winning, but winning easily, has already amassed 16 sets with a 6-0 lead in 2022, and it’s only early June.
Swiatek, the only Polish player to have won an individual Grand Slam trophy, does so with a combination of a topspin-laden live fort, like someone she greatly admires, 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal , who will face Casper Ruud in the men’s event. final Sunday, and a full court game, full of variety and gratitude for preparing early moves for a point. Very similar to a chess player, which is her.
Swiatek also has other attributes, such as a strong footwork that allows him to play defense when needed.
Also the key to Swiatek’s presence, and the rapidly growing aura, is his calm on the track. He has been touring with a sports psychologist, who was at the Swiatek guest house on Saturday, and is working on various elements of his professional and personal life.
This includes an emphasis on staying focused and setting priorities, such as the determination that is still too new in this whole business of trying to win Grand Slam titles that decided it was best not to attend the league football final. of Champions in Paris last weekend. , which made Christmas.
Arevalo, Rojer get the men’s doubles title
Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands won the men’s doubles championship at the French Open by beating Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Austin Krajicek of the United States 6-7 (4), 7- 6 (5), 6-3.
Rojer, 40, is the oldest Grand Slam men’s doubles champion of the Open era. He won the US Open 2017 title with Horia Tecau.
According to the International Tennis Federation, Arevalo is the first man in Central America to win a Grand Slam title.
Arevalo and Rojer were 12th. Dodig and Krajicek were not sown.
Dodig and Krajicek maintained three championship points with a 6-5 lead in the second set, but were unable to convert any.