Iga Swiatek wins 2022 French Open women’s final for second title at Roland Garros

Iga Swiatek has won her second French Open title in three years after defeating American teen sensation Coco Gauff in the women’s final Saturday. 

Swiatek, who turned 21 Tuesday, reaffirmed her grip on women’s tennis after easily defeating Guaff in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. She has now won 35 straight matches across six tournaments, tying Venus Williams’ record in 2000 for the longest unbeaten streak this century.

“Two years ago, winning this title was something amazing. Honestly, I wouldn’t expect it ever. But this time I feel like I worked hard and did everything to get here, even though it was really tough,” Swiatek said after the match. 

“The pressure was big.” 

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Gauff advanced to her first Grand Slam final at just 18 years old, but she struggled to find her game in the first set, dropping 4-0 before finally getting on the board. She came out strong in the second set by breaking Swiatek for the only time and then holding to go up 2-0.

But Swiatek adjusted to close out the final. 

“I want to congratulate Iga,” Gauff said with a smile. “What you’ve done on tour these past couple of months has truly been amazing, and you truly deserve this. Hopefully, we can play each other in more finals, and maybe I can get a win on you one of these days.

“I’d like to thank my team. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get this [win] today, but thank you guys for always supporting me and, hopefully, this is the first final of many,” Gauff continued, fighting back tears. 

Swiatek remains the only Polish tennis player to have won a Grand Slam singles trophy, doing so in 2020 and Saturday. 

Before accepting her trophy, she also shared a message with the people of Ukraine amid the country’s ongoing conflict with Russia.

“Stay strong because the world is still here.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.