Tennis

Third Roland Garros win sets Iga Swiatek on the path to greatness

Each of the Pole’s wins at the French Open have shown different dimensions and developments in her game

Iga Swiatek celebrates with the Suzanne Lenglen Trophy on the Bir-Hakeim bridge after winning the Women's Singles Title in the 2023 French Open. Photograph: Lewis Storey/Getty Images
Iga Swiatek celebrates with the Suzanne Lenglen Trophy on the Bir-Hakeim bridge after winning the Women's Singles Title in the 2023 French Open. Photograph: Lewis Storey/Getty Images
Tumaini Carayol in Paris
Sun Jun 11 2023 - 16:32

In the days leading up to the 2020 French Open, Iga Swiatek was struggling through one of the biggest crises of her career. Having started the Covid-delayed autumn clay court season with lofty hopes in her first year since graduating high school, expectations were high. But in her final warm-up event, the Italian Open, Swiatek endured a desperate, “traumatic” defeat against Arantxa Rus, the No 71, in the first round.

Swiatek retreated back to Poland with her small team, where they held talks about her direction and progress. Doubt festered in her mind. When she arrived at Roland Garros, the then 18-year-old struggled through practices, unable to escape her negative spiral. Her mood was so low that she made a bet with her sports psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, to see if she could just get through one training session without any drama. Swiatek spent the days before the tournament questioning her future.

“I remember just being on the Jean Bouin [Roland Garros practice courts] before the tournament, practising there,” Swiatek said last month. “I literally had the talk with Daria if it makes sense to continue everything because I felt so bad. I felt like, I don’t know, my expectations were just pretty high. I felt really bad on court. Always tense and stressed, even when I was practising.”

Two weeks later, Swiatek won the French Open at 19 years old and ranked No 54. It was both her first grand slam title and her first tour level title overall, which she clinched by demolishing the field, losing just 28 games in seven matches and not even coming close to conceding a set.

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As joyful as her first grand slam title was, Swiatek also struggled to wrap her mind around her transformation. It had also taken place in the early days of the Covid pandemic, with just 1,000 spectators allowed on the grounds each day. The whole scenario felt strange. In the following years she has continually described feeling like aspects of her first win as “coincidental”. She felt she needed to win the tournament again in order to confirm the victory.

Swiatek celebrates winning match point. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Swiatek celebrates winning match point. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

After recovering from a break deficit to defeat Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the final on Saturday, Swiatek is now a three-time French Open champion and a four-time grand slam title winner at just 22 years old. There are no remaining doubts about her greatness.

While there are no guarantees in the future, the early years of Swiatek’s career indicate she is on the path to a generational career. Her 28-2 (93 per cent Roland Garros record alone is astounding. With her French Open victory, Swiatek’s career win-loss record is 248-61 (80 per cent). An 80 per cent winning rate is the marker of sustained excellence, and she continues to match it.

The manner of her victory felt even more meaningful because of the fortitude required. Beyond Serena Williams, there have been few front runners such as Swiatek in recent years. She has mastered the art of tearing through draws and smothering opponents with both her skills in both attack and defence. Learning to become similarly effective when things turn left and she finds herself in a dogfight has been a work in progress.

[ Iga Swiatek digs deep to beat Karolina Muchova and win third French Open title ]

[ Iga Swiatek’s cold logic makes sure French Open trophy is in safe hands ]

Against Muchova, the way she locked down her game and struck her return of serve while trailing by a break at 3-4 in the third set was as spectacular as the many times she has torn opponents apart with her vicious, heavy topspin forehand.

The circumstances around each of Swiatek’s Roland Garros wins have been starkly different. After her teenage breakthrough in 2020, in 2022 she arrived at the French Open under the intense pressure of her historic 37-match winning run, desperate to ensure it wasn’t a slamless streak. This year she faced the challenge of following up her breakthrough season and maintaining her spot at the top of her sport. Had Aryna Sabalenka merely matched her result in Paris, she would have lost her No 1 ranking.

A few hours after her latest victory, Swiatek sat down amongst a small circle of journalists for what may well become an annual casual post-victory chat. Even after her toughest grand slam final yet, Swiatek seemed far less drained by her achievement than in previous years, perhaps more prepared for what is to come next. After a short break, she will begin her preparations for the grass court season as she looks to become more comfortable on her worst surface, to take her greatness to the latter rounds of Wimbledon. – Guardian