Iga Swiatek

Swiatek beat Coco Gauff, the 18-year-old American prodigy.

But Gauff did not give her support group much to cheer for in the early going, losing her serve in a hurry in the opening game with a series of errors and one very edgy double fault. She and partner Jessica Pegula will play in the women’s doubles final on Sunday against Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia of France. That French Open was played in the autumn after being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. “When I came to the team in December, I said, ‘OK lets’s start with the strengths, not the weak points,’” Wiktorowski said. But Swiatek, nearly three years Gauff’s elder, has stormed to the front of the women’s game since then with her aggressive style, powerful package of skills and detail-oriented approach to training. Gauff, in her first Grand Slam singles final at age 18, sat in her chair courtside with tears streaming down her face after the defeat.

The 21-year-old extended her 35-match unbeaten streak and captured her second Grand Slam trophy in Paris in commanding fashion.

Today, though, she couldn’t overcome her nerves and couldn’t overcome the opponent. She was the older player and the favorite. For six rounds, the 18-year-old American was a real star of the tournament, as she won a half dozen matches without dropping a set and revealed herself to be both a complete player and a complete person. She was the one with the win streak. She was the higher seed. This marked the 35th straight win, dating back to February, and the sixth consecutive title for Świątek, yet another indication that she is simply at another plane from the rest of the field.

Coco Gauff, the 18-year-old American phenom, faces top-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland in the French Open women's singles final, live on NBC.

The 23rd seed reached the final without dropping a set in six matches and not facing any top-30 players. “It’s been going on well,” Swiatek said. Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, rides a 34-match win streak, tying the longest in women’s tennis since Venus Williams won 35 in a row in 2000.

That's when the tears flowed, first during the Polish national anthem — Swiatek is the only player from that nation to win a Grand Slam singles title — and, ...

For now, Swiatek said, she felt she needed to keep all of her attention on tennis. Also key to Swiatek’s presence, and swiftly burgeoning aura, is her calmness on court. Gauff began the second set by breaking Swiatek for the only time, and then holding to go up 2-0. By the end, Gauff had more unforced errors, 23-16, and also fewer winners: 14 for her, 18 for Swiatek. Much like a chess player, which she is. Might this transform into a much closer contest?

Swiatek, 21, won her second Grand Slam title Saturday in Paris. The world's No. 1 player has won 35 straight matches.

Nadal walked beside him as Zverev reached up to shake the chair umpire’s hand, and his retirement from the match was announced. Nadal had claimed the 98-minute opening set by fending off four set points in a 10-8 tiebreaker. That’s going to be a big mental hurdle for Gauff to overcome as much as a physical one. Zverev, the 2020 U.S. Open runner-up, was seeking his second career appearance in a Grand Slam final. It was her first break point of the match, and she followed it up with a couple aces in the second game. Gauff didn’t win a single point in the fifth. The streak ties Venus Williams’s record and the title puts a second Grand Slam trophy on her shelf. That’s the last time 21-year-old Iga Swiatek lost a tennis match and she now has a second title at Roland Garros to go along with her incredible 35-match win streak. Gauff bolted to a better start to open the second set, capitalizing on a wild Swiatek forehand to break serve in the first game. It was surely a psychological boost but did little to rattle Swiatek, who closed the first set in 32 minutes. She had yet to drop a set in the tournament and took Court Philippe-Chatrier as the French Open’s 2018 girls’ junior champion. With it, Swiatek, who turned 21 last Tuesday, claimed her second Grand Slam title, adding to the 2020 French Open championship that she claimed as a relatively unknown 19-year-old.

Poland's Iga Swiatek swept Coco Gauff to win her second French Open title and extend her win streak to 35 matches, the longest in women's tennis since 2000.

“Hopefully, this is the first final of many.” “You didn’t wake up to be ordinary #1GA,” the blue T-shirts worn by those in Swiatek’s player box read. I know that I’ll get this opportunity again.” She followed that by making the 2021 French Open quarterfinals. Swiatek, 21, extended the most dominant reign in women’s tennis since Serena Williams‘ heyday. She then took the first two games of the second set before Swiatek seized control for good.

Following is reaction to world number one Iga Swiatek winning her second French Open title on Saturday with a 6-1 6-3 win over Coco Gauff in the final: COCO ...

Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement

Tennis's top-ranked Swiatek beat Gauff 6-1, 6-3 in the final at Roland Garros. Swiatek's unbeaten run of 35 matches equals one by Venus Williams in 2000 as ...

Not in all cases, of course, but often, the spectators at Roland Garros tend to offer their support to underdogs and to whichever player is trailing in a particular match. Also key to Swiatek's presence, and swiftly burgeoning aura, is her calmness on court. Gauff began the second set by breaking Swiatek for the only time, and then holding to go up 2-0. Both of which applied to Gauff. So there was a surfeit of shouts of "Allez, Coco!" There were repeated cries of her chant-ready, two-syllable first name. Might this now be a much closer contest? Her last loss came in February to 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 4, 2022 Poland's Iga Swiatek in action during the women's singles final match against Cori Gauff ...

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com "She had a game plan going out there. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Swiatek surpassed Serena Williams' mark of 34 consecutive victories this century and matched that of her sister Venus Williams.

Now that I made it, it feels like a relief a little bit.” Start your Independent Premium subscription today. I hope he’s going to come back. “I hope he liked it. “I’m happy that he’s here, honestly. Yeah, this one was special.”

The world No.1 seems unstoppable as she surpasses Serena Williams' career-best unbeaten run.

Just with everything that was going on, I'm also more aware of how it is to win a Grand Slam and what it takes and how every puzzle has to come together and basically every aspect of the game has to work. This time I felt like I really did the work.” “This time it was pure work and pure...

Whether it's the streak, her second Grand Slam title or the top ranking, the only true measure of Iga Swiatek's accomplishments is history itself.

“I think it’s going to be a little bit different. Swiatek’s chief strategy was targeting Gauff’s forehand – of the teenager’s 23 unforced errors, 16 came on that wing. “So when I was playing quarterfinal, I felt like even if something is going to go bad, I still know how to come back. I mean, there was lot of confusion in me, for sure.” So I tried to take just positives from it.” Back in March, Iga Swiatek was working on what in retrospect feels like a quaint little winning streak of 11 matches.

PARIS (AP) — Iga Swiatek is so efficient, so smooth, with a racket in her hand, seemingly never flustered a bit and, for months now, never beaten.

For now, Swiatek said, she felt she needed to keep all of her attention on tennis. “She does a good job of taking the pressure moments and really rising to the occasion. And today she rose to the occasion,” said the 18th-seeded Gauff, who was appearing in her first Grand Slam final and hadn’t dropped a set in the tournament. Gauff began the second set by breaking Swiatek for the only time, and then holding to go up 2-0. The hardest thing is like not letting yourself think about that and overanalyze and not letting yourself think about all the numbers and the odds.” Thanks to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over 18-year-old American Coco Gauff in Saturday’s final, the top-ranked Swiatek leaves Roland Garros with her second championship — and a run of 35 matches without a loss.

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek has beaten 18-year-old American Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 in the French Open final to collect her second title at Roland Garros and stretch ...

For now, Swiatek said, she felt she needed to keep all of her attention on tennis. “She does a good job of taking the pressure moments and really rising to the occasion. And today she rose to the occasion,” said the 18th-seeded Gauff, who was appearing in her first Grand Slam final and hadn’t dropped a set in the tournament. The hardest thing is like not letting yourself think about that and overanalyze and not letting yourself think about all the numbers and the odds.” Thanks to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over 18-year-old American Coco Gauff in Saturday’s final, the top-ranked Swiatek leaves Roland Garros with her second championship — and a run of 35 matches without a loss. It’s not easy to cope with all that different atmosphere and the pressure,” Swiatek, who is 21, said after adding this trophy to the one she won in Paris in 2020 while ranked outside the top 50.