Iga Swiatek reflects on 'emotional' fourth Roland Garros title

June 8, 2024

Roland Garros, Tennis News, WTA Tennis Players

Iga Swiatek reflects on ’emotional’ fourth Roland Garros title

Iga Swiatek has claimed her fourth title at Roland Garros, becoming the youngest women’s singles player in the Open Era to achieve this feat.

Swiatek beat Jasmine Paolini, 6-2 6-1, in the final to extend her winning streak at the Paris major to 21 matches.

Coming into Roland Garros, the Pole had also won both the Madrid Open and Italian Open, and as a result is the first player to complete this hat-trick of titles since Serena Williams in 2013.

However, it has not been all plain-sailing for Swiatek in Paris, who had to come from 5-2 down and saved a match point against Naomi Osaka in the second round.

This was something that the 23-year-old referred to in her post-match speech, having only dropped 17 games in the five matches since surviving that scare.

“Congrats for an amazing tournament [Jasmine],” said Swiatek congratulating her opponent after the match. “I’m really impressed how you’ve played these last two weeks, and you can do a lot, especially on clay. I hope we’re going to have many more matches in final rounds. I want to thank my team and family; without them I wouldn’t be here. It’s amazing to be here.”

The world No.1 continued, “I love this place; I wait every year to come back here. Merci beaucoup, I love you. I was almost out of the tournament in the second round so thank you guys for staying behind me and cheering for me. I needed to believe that this was possible. It’s been an emotional tournament. Thank you for supporting me.”

23,8 – At 23 years and 8 days, Iga Swiatek has become the youngest player in the Open Era to secure their fourth Women’s Singles title at Roland Garros. Superstar. #rolandgarros | @rolandgarros @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/zkJhJAFtCq

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 8, 2024

As a result of winning her fifth Grand Slam title, Swiatek has officially qualified for the WTA Finals taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the end of the season.

And despite the defeat for Paolini, the Italian’s Roland Garros is not over just yet, as she still has the doubles final to play alongside compatriot Sara Errani tomorrow.

Inside the baseline…

Jasmine Paolini got the early break in the first set and generally played well, but Iga Swiatek was simply too good and won 11 of the last 12 games. Although it is impossible to say what the future holds, it is hard to see anyone getting close to Swiatek in the next few years at this tournament and Chris Evert’s record of seven Roland Garros titles could be in real jeopardy.