After spending so much of her third French Open final in the lead and in control, Iga Swiatek was suddenly in trouble. Swiatek had led Karolina Muchova from the very beginning and appeared en route to a comfortable victory until nerves struck. As unforced errors sprayed from her racket and doubt festered in Swiatek’s head, Muchova’s varied, soulful game soared. Having led the final 6-2, 3-0, the top seed found herself trailing 0-2 in the third set and fighting for her life.
Even as Swiatek struggled to put forehands into court and the crowd chanted her opponent’s name, she never panicked. She maintained her composure and dug deep into her mental reserves, keeping her nerve after two hours, 46 minutes of unfiltered drama to defeat Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 and win her fourth grand slam title.
“I’m feeling all these different emotions right now,” said Swiatek afterwards. “It’s pretty surreal, everything. But the match was really intense, a lot of ups and downs. Stressful moments and coming back. So I’m pretty happy that at the end I could be solid in those few last games and finish it.”
A consequence of her success is a level of dominance that has not been seen in the women’s singles draw at Roland Garros since Justine Henin in the mid-2000s. At 22 years old, Swiatek has won three French Open titles in four years, becoming the second-youngest woman in the Open era to achieve the feat after Monica Seles. Now with an incredible 28-2 record here, Swiatek is the youngest woman to defend a French Open title since Seles.
As introverted and softly spoken as Swiatek is, she continues to show her enormous mental fortitude in the biggest moments. She is the third player to have won her first four grand slam finals, along with Seles and Naomi Osaka. After years of being unable to fulfil her potential while struggling with injuries, Muchova arrived in her first grand slam final having secured a stunning comeback victory over Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, in the semi-final. It further confirmed her ability to stand up against the best. She began the final with an incredible 5-0 record against opponents ranked inside the top three.
But a grand slam final is a different occasion to anything else a player could possibly experience. The pressure can be so suffocating. Muchova began the encounter spraying errors. Her slow start contrasting with Swiatek who was extremely solid, offering no errors and maintaining relentless depth off both groundstrokes from the start.
As Muchova settled down while trailing by a break, the latter part of the second set hinted at what was to come. She unloaded on vicious forehands while also weaving her web of variety, drawing Swiatek into awkward positions and using the drop shot particularly effectively. Her varied attacking tennis initially came with too many errors and Swiatek remained extremely solid, establishing a healthy lead.
As the prospect of a comprehensive defeat became increasingly likely, Muchova responded. In a flash of forehand winners, forays to the net and excellent serving, Muchova quickly recovered to make it 3-3 in the second set, during which both players were afflicted by nerves as service breaks swung back and forth.
It was Muchova who took control. She served for the set at 6-5 and after Swiatek erased two set points, she settled a surprise serve and volley attempt at deuce. When Swiatek tracked her volleys down with magnificent defence, Muchova slid and lunged to her left side, deflecting a volley for a clean winner. After dramatically levelling the match, Muchova twice led by a break in the decider at 2-0 and 4-3.
The match had been frantic for 90 minutes, but as the finishing line approached, Swiatek found clarity. She locked down her game, returning spectacularly well and refusing to offer up cheap errors and she tore through the final three games of the match to reach match point on Muchova’s serve. After Muchova double-faulted on the final point, Swiatek collapsed to the red clay with tears streaming down her face.
“After so many ups and downs, I kind of stopped thinking about the score,” said Swiatek. “I wanted to use my intuition more, because I knew that I can play a little bit better if I’m going to get a little bit more loosened up. It helped, for sure, in the third set.”
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During the trophy ceremony, Muchova also struggled to hold back tears as she took the microphone for the speech. She was consoled by Chris Evert, the seven-time French Open champion, who presented the trophies five months after announcing that she is in the clear following treatment for ovarian cancer. “The feeling is a little bitter, because I felt it was very close, a close match,” said Muchova. “But overall, I mean, to call myself grand slam finalist, it’s amazing achievement, and for sure big motivation for me to work in the future and to get a chance again to play for these big titles.”
As Swiatek picked up the Suzanne Lenglen trophy and shook it for the audience to see, its lid fell on to the floor. She responded with a kiss.
A year on from the breathless, unforgettable breakthrough season that ended with her on top of the world, she has had her struggles. Formidable new rivals have emerged and injuries have presented frustrating challenges. Swiatek has handled all adversity in her stride, continuing her march towards becoming one of the great players of her time.
