With Iga Swiatek, it is not only a question of generational talent. It’s about a timeless champion. By being crowned champion of Roland-Garros by virtue of a 6-2 and 6-1 victory in the final on Saturday, there is no doubt that the Pole, just 23 years old, is already one of the greatest.
Usually, when we calculate the duration of a tennis match in minutes rather than hours, it is either due to abandonment or domination. In the case of this final between Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini, it is the second option.
68 minutes were enough for the world number one to get rid of the last player separating her from another title on the red sand of the Philippe-Chatrier court.
This analysis will be very simple, because the closer we get to perfection, the less words matter.
Swiatek does not have the exceptional power of Aryna Sabalenka. Nor can she rely on the devastating ardor of Coco Gauff. And even if her game, overall, is nothing visually spectacular or fundamentally explosive, the champion stands out from the others simply by her ability to win the most important matches without flinching. Technically and tactically, Swiatek doesn’t do everything impeccably, but she doesn’t do anything wrong. And that’s the big difference between her and all the other players determined to take her place. Even if none has yet found the solution to dislodge it from its throne.
“It’s the biggest challenge there is to face you here,” Paolini said towards his crush on the stage assembled after the meeting.
In fact, Swiatek’s data during this final is nothing remarkable. 62% of his first serves were successful, 69% of points won on first serves, 56% on break points and only five more winners than unforced errors.
However, with Swiatek, it’s all in the way you do it. Even if the result often matters more than the manner in this case. Broken in her second service game, the right-hander broke Paolini the next game to never really be bothered again. Without artifice and without extravagance, the Pole headed towards another title. The Italian backhanded the last serve of the match behind the baseline and Swiatek was able to celebrate another triumph.
At 23 years and nine days old, Swiatek became the youngest player to win the only major tournament played on clay four times. For a third consecutive year, she finished the competition with the trophy at arm’s length.
Being alone in her category, the hunt for the record can officially begin for the champion. She is now only three titles behind Chris Evert, holder of the most victories at Roland Garros with seven.
Swiatek celebrated her 23rd birthday on May 31 and has just won her fourth title in her sixth participation in the Paris tournament. An average that favors the predictions a lot. Before turning thirty, she could become the most successful tennis player at Roland Garros.
It is also, in a certain sense, about the transfer of power. Rafael Nadal, eliminated in the first round, was evasive when it came to his future. But the fine foxes will have understood that the 2024 edition resembled his last hurray at the tournament which he won 14 times.
Metaphorically, this coronation of Swiatek is a bit as if Nadal had just handed over the keys of the house to the new owner of the central court. No one excels on this surface like she does and we bet she will take care of the legacy offered by the Spaniard.
This year, she won two of the three clay court tournaments played before Roland-Garros. At Porte d’Auteuil, she lost only one round, in her first match against Naomi Osaka. Otherwise, she won all her duels in the minimum number of rounds without ever offering more than four games to her opponents.
Completely polar opposite, Paolini entered the top 10 for the first time in his career at 28 years old.
The Italian had a crazy tournament. Previously, she had won only two career tournaments. In Slovenia in 2021 and in Dubai a few months ago. Both titles acquired on hard court.
Despite her lack of experience in a grand slam final context, Paolini never seemed intimidated by Swiatek. From the start of the match, she made her opponent understand that fear, fear and feelings of inferiority would not be factors. She was aggressive at the start of the first set, even saving a break point in the second game.
Even after losing the first set, she started the second with aplomb. She was combative and provocative. Maybe a little too much. By trying to destabilize Swiatek, Paolini got out of his usual game. She forced mistakes and tried to do too much. She made 11 of her 18 unforced errors in the final set.
However, you can’t blame Paolini for this tactic. Against the best in the world, you have to try. You have to aim for the lines and you have to provoke a change of pace. It didn’t work on Saturday, but it will be interesting to see what happens next.
Will she do like Jelena Ostapenko, Francesca Schiavone and Anastasia Myskina by winning Roland Garros and then fading away?
Hard to say at this stage. The reality being that by having Bianca Andreescu, Elena Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva to make it to the final, she proved to have the attributes that could potentially save her from falling into the trap of the players named in the previous paragraph.
“I lost, but I’m proud of myself,” she admitted after the match.
Her journey has been inspiring these last two weeks, but it would be a monumental coup to topple Swiatek in the final. It would have been a bit like turning the course of history upside down.