Four-time champion completes the Roland-Garros three-peat aged 23
©Nicolas Gouhier / FFTNever mind that world No.1 Iga Swiatek only recently turned 23 years of age (May 31st if you’re scoring at home). Never mind that she hails from a country that had never produced a singles Grand Slam champion – until she came along.
Young by many standards, and improbable by some others, every vintage of the Polish juggernaut’s tennis is somehow better than the previous.
On Saturday Swiatek’s dominance bubbled over as she wrapped up her latest coup de grace in Court Phillipe-Chatrier, powering past Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 to become the first woman to win three consecutive women’s singles titles at Porte d’Auteuil since Justine Henin in 2007.
“I love this place, honestly,” Swiatek said as she held the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen in her arms and broke into tears. “I wait every year to come back here.
“I was almost out of the tournament in the second round, so thank you guys for having my back and cheering for me, I also needed to believe that this moment was possible.”
With the victory, Swiatek becomes the youngest player in history to claim four Roland-Garros women’s singles titles (the only player to do it before turning 25), and the sixth youngest woman in history to claim five Grand Slam singles titles.
In 2020, Swiatek won her maiden title in Paris, becoming the lowest-ranked champion in Open era history (at No.54 in the rankings) and the youngest champion since Monica Seles since 1992.
Four years later she continues her reign as the world’s top player – and most formidable on the Parisian clay – by notching her 21st consecutive victory at Roland-Garros.
It was a hopeful start for the 28-year-old Italian in her first Grand Slam final, as she broke for a 2-1 lead in the opening minutes of the match and displayed pitch-perfect tennis in doing so.
But the wind was quickly taken from her sails by the all-out attack of the world No.1, who launched into her shots with exceptional verve and seemed to be everywhere at once to deny everything Paolini could throw at her.
No player is better versed at putting her opponent in a state of emergency like Swiatek on her beloved red clay, and the No.12 seed soon began to buckle under the weight of the Pole’s relentless barrage of groundstrokes.
“I think to play you here is the toughest challenge in our sport,” Paolini said as she accepted her runner-up trophy. “But I think I really enjoyed the match – it was important to step on the court and enjoy the moment, because it’s a good moment for me.”
Paolini, who had never been beyond the second round in Paris prior to this season, will rise to a career-high of No.7 in the WTA rankings on Monday.
From 2-1 down in the opening set Swiatek rolled through ten consecutive games, wrapping up a 34-minute stanza with a break to love.
She continued to surge in the second set.
Displaying the trademark grit that got her to her first major final in Paris, Paolini managed a hold to close the gap to 5-1 in the second set, but Swiatek served out the contest in style in the next game, then dropped to her knees in a euphoric celebration after championship point, after one hour and eight minutes of scintillating tennis.
After snatching victory from the jaws of defeat against Osaka in the second round in Paris, Swiatek demonstrated why she is one of the greatest frontrunners to ever step on the terre battue in Paris for the rest of the fortnight.
“Even though I was really close to being out of it against Naomi, I just survived that match and then played with huge confidence [after],” Swiatek said. “I’m just proud of myself that I didn’t stop and the pressure didn’t squeeze me down.
“Honestly I just felt better and better every day. Also the weather got hotter and I think it suits my game.”
Swiatek dropped just 17 games across her final five matches, and left no doubt about her status as the most dominant clay-courter of her generation.
Just six appearances into her Roland-Garros career, Swiatek closed accounts in 2024 carrying a 35-2 lifetime record with four titles to her name. Stay tuned: her best is likely yet to come.
“I’ve already achieved much more than I ever expected,” Swiatek said. “I’m just doing everything step by step, really enjoying every match and every title – my goal is to be a better player and I feel like I am a better player than last year, for example, and I’m just proud of that.”
Swiatek hit 18 winners against 13 unforced errors, and put immense pressure on Paolini’s serve, winning 69 percent of her return points and breaking serve five times from nine opportunities. She had break points in all but one of her return games.
Paolini managed just seven winners against 21 unforced errors. She converted the only break point she held, in the third game of the match.
Swiatek won 57 points in the match, and lost just 31.
Swiatek improves to 5-0 in Grand Slam finals, and becomes just the third player – male or female – to win the first five Grand Slam finals she contested.
She joins Roger Federer (7-0) and Monica Seles (6-0) on the list.
Swiatek is also the first player born after 1990 to hold five major titles. She has moved into a tie with Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova for 11th on the all-time Open era women’s singles Grand Slam titles list.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
