Iga Swiatek had already lifted the Suzanne-Lenglen Cup twice: in 2020, then last year. However, his reunion with the trophy didn’t go as planned. When the Pole lifted it up and shook it, the top flew off and fell… As a nod to the final she had just won on Saturday 10th June.
This match against Czech Karolina Muchova (43And world player), Iga Swiatek initially seemed to have everything under control, before tripping and losing a set on the road. But in the end she came out victorious: 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, in 2 h 46 min.
At just 22, the world number 1 wins her third title at Roland-Garros, her fourth at the Grand Slam (with the US Open in 2022). “The relationship she has with the tournament and the crowd here becomes unique, year after year, and you can imagine seeing her lift the trophy many more times.”Amélie Mauresmo, director of the French Open, reacted after the meeting.
The fact remains that the Warsaw native, who had glossed over her previous six matches without dropping a set and spent just 7 hours and 41 minutes on the court prior to this Saturday, this time felt the ocher of her Parisian garden tremble under the his feet.
A disappointing then breathtaking ending
Less imperial as at the beginning of her fortnight, she was able to count on her usual solidity to pocket the first set quite easily (6-2) against a dangerous but too imprecise Karolina Muchova – fourteen unforced errors in the first set – and, perhaps even , surpassed by the stakes of a first Grand Slam final.
After an hour of play, the scoreboard showed 6-2, 3-0 in favor of Iga Swiatek. The sentence seemed about to fall. The Czech’s varied play, which had cut her legs so severely and stopped Aryna Sabalenka’s powerful strikes in the previous round, was no match for the Pole’s consistency. The stands, already not very full, began to empty. There are “Come on Iga” OR “Go Dear” they were even more discreet.
It was then that Karolina Muchova, who had already come out of nowhere in the semifinals against the top seedOH 2 – down 2-5 in the third set, he saved a match point –, repeated a spell and an unexpected robbery to turn the tide of the match. He also scored the point of the match with a sequence of serve and volleys, finished off with an extended backhand volley to the net. On the ground, he lost his racket. And it was she, one point later, who pocketed the second set. What hitherto seemed more like a trivial match has finally taken on the semblance of a final, with the unforced errors and gloomy atmosphere giving way to good play and suspense.
Twice behind from a break, and with his back against the wall when he had to save a break point at 4-4, Iga Swiatek recounted his experience, each time managing to recover by taking more initiative. Karolina Muchova, who had never made it past the third round at Roland-Garros, ended up cracking, before losing, in her next match, by double fault.
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The Polish woman could then squat down, her head in her hands, weeping. “He gave up everything, it is evident that he had to draw, observed Amélie Mauresmo. It was a great show, it was Karolina’s strength to be able to get back into the game. »
“A parallel start” with Rafael Nadal
As soon as the match point passed, the fight gave way to Philippe-Chatrier’s excitement on the court. Karolina Muchova, earlier, collapsed as she spoke. “When I look at these people [sa team]I feel like the winner”, he said in a trembling voice to thank his clan. The player has come a long way: she, who has not been spared from injuries, had to leave the tournament in a wheelchair last year after spraining her ankle in the third round.
Then it was the turn of Iga Swiatek, still with the cap screwed on her head but her eyes red with tears, to express how special the Porte d’Auteuil is for her. “I say this every year but it’s not the performance itself that counts, I like being here, it’s my favorite place on the circuit. »
If we can’t yet speak of a local master like Rafael Nadal, fourteen times Roland-Garros winner and absent this year for the first time since 2005, the young Polish girl is starting to gain confidence on the Parisian clay. And Amélie Mauresmo to acknowledge: “There is still a long way to go between three and fourteen titles, but there is the beginning of a parallel. »
