French Open: Swiatek defeats Paolini to achieve title hat-trick in Paris
Jun 08, 2024
Paris [France], June 8 : World number one women's tennis star Iga Swiatek made a successful defence of her French Open title on Saturday, securing her fourth and third-successive Roland Garros title after beating Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the title clash.
Swiatek defeated her Italian opponent by 6-2, 6-1 in straight sets to secure a hat-trick of titles, as per Olympics.com.
The Polish star was a huge favourite heading into the contest as she had won all her four last Grand Slam title clashes, the US Open in 2022 and at Roland-Garros in 2020, 2022 and 2023. By clinching her fourth title in France, she is five titles away from outdoing the record holder, Chris Evert (seven titles) from the USA.
Paolini had a promising start to her first-ever Grand Slam final and got the first break during the game which put Swiatek on backfoot. However, Swiatek found her rhythm really quick and dominated the rest of the match by making her opponent work around the court. Paolini saved her serve in the sixth game and added some respectability to the scoreline, but Swiatek managed to win the game.
Paolini will however have another shot at French Open glory as she will play with Sara Errani in the women's doubles final against Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova.
"It is amazing to be here. I love this place, every year I cannot wait to get back here," Swiatek said after the match as quoted by the Olympics.
"I was almost out of the tournament in the second round. So thank you for cheering for me. I also needed to believe that this one is possible. It has been an emotional tournament," she added.