Swiatek extends winning streak to claim second Roland Garros title
Iga Swiatek claimed her second French Open crown on Saturday afternoon, beating teen sensation Coco Gauff in a stunning display of attacking tennis.
The world number one ranked Pole outhit the American to claim an emphatic 6-1 6-3 victory in just an hour and 8 minutes.
Swiatek had won her last 34 matches coming into the encounter and was aiming to be just the second woman since 2000 to notch 35 consecutive wins.
18-year-old Gauff had herself made a piece of history by reaching the final, becoming the youngest Grand Slam finalist since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004.
But it was the older of the two players who got off to the faster start, with Swiatek breaking the American’s serve to start the championship match after a nervous-looking Gauff hit a forehand long.
The American did appear to settle as the match went on, saving break points when serving at 0-2 in the first set, but ultimately conceded the break as she struggled to deal with the depth and power of Swiatek’s groundstrokes.
And the Pole proved unrelenting, breaking the Gauff serve for a third time to hammer home her advantage and take the opening set 6-1.
Despite the uneven scoreline in the first set, Gauff refused to panic, capitalising on some uncharacteristic errors from Swiatek to break the world number one in her opening service game of the second set.
It was not long however before the momentum was in Swiatek’s favour once again, as the world number one clinched back-to-back breaks against the Gauff serve to lead the second set 4-2.
With the finish line in sight the Pole continued to clean the lines with her groundstrokes, sinking to her knees in victory after Gauff hit a forehand return long on Swiatek’s first match point.
“It was pretty tough,” Swiatek said during the trophy presentation. “The pressure was big, thank you to all the fans for the support.”
She was then met with rapturous applause from the Parisian crowd when referencing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine at the end of her victory speech, urging the war-torn country to “stay strong.”
Meanwhile, a tearful Gauff thanked her family and fans as she collected the runners-up trophy. “Hopefully this is my first [grand slam] final of many,” she added.
All eyes will now turn to Wimbledon, set to begin in just over three weeks time, as Swiatek aims to become just the seventh woman to achieve the coveted French Open-Wimbledon double.
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