Iga Swiatek glad to ‘survive’ clay swing after roller-coaster final

Paris — Holder Iga Swiatek endured an up-and-down final at Roland Garros on Saturday to claim her third French Open title in four years and said she was happy to survive a testing clay court swing as the emotions reached their peak at the finish line.

The 22-year-old Swiatek crouched down on the clay and shed tears at the end of a fierce battle with unseeded Czech Karolina Muchova in which she dropped her first set in two weeks in Paris before sealing a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory.

The world No 1 said she was left almost surprised that she closed out the victory as Muchova — who beat second-seed Aryna Sabalenka with a late fightback in the semifinals — double-faulted on match point to bow out.

“I saw all these matches of Karolina when she was actually coming back from scores like that before match point. I wasn’t really thinking it’s going to happen now. I just played and I just gave it all,” Swiatek said.

“It’s hard to describe. There was a lot of happiness. I felt suddenly tired of these three weeks. Maybe my matches weren’t physically exhausting, but it’s hard to keep your focus. And the whole swing. Since Stuttgart, I haven’t been home. So I’m happy I finished the whole clay court swing so well, and that I survived. I’m never going to doubt my strength again maybe because of that.”

Swiatek said she had no regrets about dropping the second set after going 3-0 up.

“I just looked forward and I said to myself, ‘OK, you know what? I’m going to give it all.’ I wasn’t thinking or analysing. I played my game, used my intuition, and that really helped. After so many ups and downs, I stopped thinking about the score. I wanted to use my intuition more. I knew that I can play a little better if I’m going to get a bit more loosened up. It helped, for sure, in the third set.” 

Czech Muchova said she now knew she could go for the big titles.

“I felt I was very, very close,” she said. “To call me a Grand Slam finalist is an amazing achievement and, for sure, a big motivation for me to work in the future and get a chance again to play for these big titles.”

Plagued by injuries throughout her career, including when she played in the juniors, Muchova, a 2021 Australian Open semifinalist, dropped to the mid-200s after another injury in 2021. She said last week that some doctors had told her after the 2021 injury that she might not play again. However, she had battled back into the top 50 once more going into the French Open.

“It’s a very big motivation, now that I know that Iga is world No 1 and I was so close. I think now that I can do it,” she said. “It’s good for the confidence. It says to me that I’m able to do this, to do these big results. It’s very motivational and now I feel I can do it and I will for sure try to get there again and put up a fight for the title on the next stages.”

Muchova, whose defeat was her first against a top-three player in her career after five wins, said she was now looking forward to next month’s Wimbledon tournament and the grass season where she feels more comfortable.

“I wouldn’t expect it that much on the clay, honestly. I look forward to playing on the grass, on the fast surfaces. That’s for sure the surfaces I prefer and I like more. The main focus is obviously Wimbledon.”

Reuters