Iga Swiatek clinches third straight French Open title, becomes first woman to achieve this mighty milestone

Iga Swiatek secured a commanding straight-sets victory over Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the 2024 French Open women's singles final, capturing her third consecutive title at Roland Garros. 

Iga Swiatek pockets fourth French Open title

Swiatek efficiently dispatched Paolini with a 6-2, 6-1 scoreline in the final showdown of the clay court tournament on Saturday, June 8. 23-year-old Swiatek became the first woman since Serena Williams to win three consecutive majors on the same surface, and the first to achieve this feat at Roland Garros since Justine Henin. This triumph marked Swiatek's fourth clay court title and her fifth Grand Slam overall, making her the youngest player to win four titles at Roland Garros with her emphatic victory over Paolini in Paris.

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The 12th-seeded Paolini, 28, was competing in her first Grand Slam final. Paolini had not advanced beyond the second round in any of the four major tennis tournaments until she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open this past January. She is set to compete in the French Open women's doubles final on Sunday, partnering with Sara Errani to face the team of 2023 U.S. Open singles champion Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova.

On a 20-match winning streak in Paris and having won 18 consecutive matches this year, including titles in Madrid and Rome, Swiatek promptly got down to business. She started strong with an ace to hold her first service game. Although Paolini was pressured into a break point, the Italian held on with determination, eventually breaking Swiatek when the Pole sent a forehand long.

This spurred a quick response from Swiatek, who immediately broke back to love and then pulled ahead 4-2 after Paolini committed a costly double fault.

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Swiatek's dominance against Paolini 

Swiatek kept her opponent constantly on the move, leading to an accumulation of errors from Paolini, who ultimately surrendered the first set with a misfired groundstroke into the net. With Swiatek dominating, Paolini appeared overwhelmed, unable to find a solution as the top seed exuded confidence and consistently dominated the rallies. Swiatek's campaign could have ended prematurely had she not staged a remarkable comeback against Naomi Osaka in the second round, where she saved a match point to avoid her earliest Grand Slam exit at the French Open.

That close call fueled her championship drive, leaving reigning Wimbledon and US Open champions — Marketa Vondrousova and Coco Gauff — unable to thwart Swiatek's charge. Last year, Swiatek struggled to close out Karolina Muchova when expectations were high, but this year was a different story. The Pole easily overpowered Paolini, cementing her growing reputation as the 'Queen of Clay'.

Paolini's three games in the final were the fewest since Justine Henin defeated Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2 in 2007, a victory that coincided with Henin's fourth Roland Garros title in five years.

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