A “nervous” Coco Gauff was no match for Iga Swiatek in an impressive performance on clay to claim the second Polish championship.
Iga Swiatek won her second French Open title by beating teenage Coco Gauff in the final on Saturday, while world number one secured her 35th consecutive victory.
The 21-year-old Polish star won 6-1, 6-3 in just 68 minutes at Court Philippe Chatrier, equaling Venus Williams’ record for the longest victory for a woman in the 21st century.
Swiatek has celebrated its sixth consecutive title in the player squad this year with friends and family.
“I told Coco ‘Don’t cry’ and that’s what I’m doing. Congratulations to Coco,” an emotional Swiatek said.
“You’re doing an amazing job. At your age, I was in my first year of touring and I didn’t know what I was doing. You’ll find it, I’m sure.” A heartbroken Gauff sat down in her seat in tears after a nervous performance, marked by 23 unforced errors and three double fouls.
The 18-year-old American fell short in her bid to become the youngest individual Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004.
“I want to congratulate Iga, what you’ve been touring for the last few months has been amazing,” Gauff said, as tears flowed back when he thanked his team.
“I hope we can play in more finals and maybe I can win one … I want to thank my team, I’m sorry I couldn’t get this one today.”
Swiatek, only the 10th woman to win several French Opens in the Open era, only lost one set in the tournament, against China’s Zheng Qinwen in the fourth round.
He has now won all three meetings of his career with Gauff, who was playing his first grand final.
Gauff will now focus on Sunday’s doubles final, where he will face local favorites Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic alongside compatriot Jessica Pegula.
Swiatek improved his remarkable record in the finals, having won his last nine on the WTA Tour.
Swiatek expressed his support for Ukraine during the trophy presentation, although he said before the final that he does not feel ready to talk about off-track topics.
“I want to say to Ukraine, ‘Be strong.’ The war is still there,” he said, cheering from the stands.
Gauff nervous
Gauff was nervous in the first exchanges and a burst of unforced errors gave Swiatek a break in the first game.
The 18th seed found a 3-0 and a double defeat just 16 minutes after the match, as Swiatek’s powerful setback helped her win a long third game in her fifth break point.
Gauff finally got on the board with a cheeky prey to the delight of the audience, but had lost a set for the first time in the tournament a few minutes later.
Swiatek wasn’t playing as best he could, but a cross from the back of the court scored two points and took a second chance when Gauff fired wide.
The Pole gave her opponent a possible way back in the game, making four unforced errors to throw her serve in the first game of the second set.
Swiatek recovered, however, as the errors continued to come from Gauff, who again tied the score at 2-2.
He played five games in a row to move within a title, losing just five points in the process.
Gauff dug deep to force Swiatek to serve for the trophy.
But the first seed did just that in their first game point, falling to the red clay in celebration as Gauff sent a long flying return.