‘She’s a machine, she’s dominating’ – Tim Henman and Chris Evert on Iga Swiatek brilliance at French Open

Eurosport experts Tim Henman and Chris Evert have given their views on Iga Swiatek’s masterclass in beating Coco Gauff to clinch her second French Open crown.

Swiatek showed all her class and fearsome strength of character as she overcame the 18-year-old, who was playing in her maiden Grand Slam singles final.

Swiatek’s 35th win in a row ties her with Venus Williams for the longest WTA win streak since 2000, and Eurosport’s experts were queuing up to rave about the Pole’s talent and dominance after her latest success on the red dirt in Paris.

“It’s very difficult at this moment for Coco Gauff, but she’s had a fantastic fortnight, she’s going to learn a lot from it,” Henman said. “There will be plenty more Slam finals for Coco.

“They were brilliant speeches from both players, so genuine, so emotional, so honest and so wise for Swiatek to speak like that after one of the biggest moments in her career it’s fantastic.

“You look at what she is doing for the women’s game right now and she’s dominating. She’s played absolutely brilliantly for the whole fortnight, and she’s a really worthy champion.”

Evert added: “Iga was the better player out there today. I just have to say, about the emotions – these two young women are 21 and 18 years old – there are so many expectations and the occasion was so huge.

“At the end of the day, Iga was the one who opened up the court better, she was the one that had less unforced errors, she was all business, very, very focused and she was the one that dominated every single point from the first shot on.

“I just think that’s experience, she had a game plan going out there, she talked to her coach I’m sure, talking about being proactive, being aggressive from the first shot, do not let Coco be letting run you around the court because that’s where she is at her best.

“I’m sure she talked to her performance psychologist, Daria – Daria probably said keep your head down, focus and compartmentalise everything. But she was a machine out there, she knew what she had to do.

“She [Swiatek] is not thinking ahead, I don’t think she’s thinking I can win this tournament 14 times. We all talk about being in the moment, she knows in her mind that her journey is that she wants to be fit, she wants to be hungry, she wants to play good tennis for another 15-20 years and win a lot of Grand Slams. That’s in the long-term.

“In the short-term, as she celebrates, she is going to be thinking about Wimbledon. It’s only three weeks away, I hope she takes a week off and does nothing to get the body fresh and then gets onto the grass. She doesn’t think too far ahead, I don’t think.

“For Coco, this experience is invaluable to her. She may not be happy right now, but I’m telling you she has this under her belt so the next time she reaches a final she will know exactly what to expect and it won’t be new for her and she can figure out what she can do differently.”

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