Polish superstar Iga Swiatek clinched her third French Open title after defeating Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 at the grand Roland Garros 2023 final on Saturday.
Polish ace Iga Swiatek established a commanding lead in the French Open final, overcame a confidence crisis in the second set and a deficit in the third set, then found her bearings to beat unseeded Czech player Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 on Saturday to win her third victory at Roland Garros and fourth Grand Slam title.
Iga Swiatek just turned 22 days ago, yet already her name is linked to some of the greatest players in the history of the game. The Polish superstar, the youngest winner of consecutive victories at the French Open since Monica Seles, is one of just two women in the Open Era to have triumphed in each of her first four Grand Slam finals. The other is Naomi Osaka.
Since Serena Williams won the 2002 US Open, she is also the youngest ever to win a fourth Grand Slam trophy.
Swiatek, who is ranked No. 1, jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after just 10 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier, winning 12 of the first 15 points. She also led 3-0 in the second set before Muchova added some intrigue.
Muchova won five of six games to tie the match at one set apiece while Swiatek appeared off-balance and sought instruction from her coach in between points. Muchova advanced 2-0 in the decisive set, maintaining her momentum.
At that point, Swiatek resumed playing her typical style of crisp, clean tennis, darting across the red clay with excellent defence and profiting from Muchova's constant errors. However, Swiatek once again found herself behind 4-3 in the third set before winning the final three games.
Swiatek’s three Roland Garros crowns equal the lifetime achievements of Margaret Court, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Seles and Williams; only players named Evert, Graf and Henin have more. In a single Grand Slam during the Open Era, only Court (95.5 per cent) has a higher victory percentage at Roland Garros than Swiatek's 93.3 per cent.
Swiatek will remain the top player on the Hologic WTA Tour. Since rising to the top spot, she has won 26-2 Grand Slam games and is currently 28-2 in Roland Garros.
