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E-mail Xinhua, June 8, 2024
Iga Swiatek celebrates during the awarding ceremony after the women's singles final match between Iga Swiatek of Poland and Jasmine Paolini of Italy at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros, Paris, France, June 8, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Top-seeded Iga Swiatek clinched her third consecutive French Open title, her fifth Grand Slam victory overall, with a dominant straight-set win over Jasmine Paolini on Saturday.
The Polish world No. 1 took just 68 minutes to defeat Italy's 12th seed 6-2, 6-1, showcasing her unrivaled prowess on clay courts.
"I wanted to thank my family, my team. Honestly, so many difficulties in so many weeks," Swiatek said tearfully.
Swiatek also recalled her second-round match against former world No.1 Naomi Osaka, where she saved a match point to overcome the four-time major winner in a nearly three-hour battle.
Following that challenge, Swiatek did not drop a single set on her way to the title.
Having celebrated her 23rd birthday last week, Swiatek became the third female player in the Open era to win three consecutive French Open titles, joining Monica Seles (1990-1992) and Justine Henin (2005-2007).
This victory extended her Roland-Garros win streak to 21 matches. Her last defeat in Paris was in the 2021 quarter-finals against Maria Sakkari.
After being broken in the third game of the first set and trailing 1-2, Swiatek won 10 consecutive games, securing the first set and racing to a 5-0 lead in the second.
Paolini managed to hold serve for only the second time in the match, but Swiatek left no doubt when serving for the victory. An impressive serve forced Paolini to return out of bounds, sealing Swiatek's win.
Paolini, who had never reached the third round at Roland Garros before this year, will break into the Top 10 for the first time, ranking World No. 7 in next week's WTA rankings. The 28-year-old will become the fifth Italian to rank inside the world's Top 10 in the Open Era, following Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, Sara Errani, and Roberta Vinci.
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