Iga Swiatek on emotions, pressure and the physical challenge of winning Roland-Garros: “I survived!”

Just after Karolina Muchova’s unfortunate double fault to conclude the French Open final, Iga Swiatek crouched on the Paris clay court, visibly touched, relieved and very emotional to have won her fourth Grand Slam title. Concentrated throughout the fortnight, leaving no room for emotion, the Pole finally broke down for one of the finest moments of her career.

It was the first time in her career that the world No 1 had managed to retain a Grand Slam title. Swiatek, the overwhelming favourite to win this year’s French Open, had to overcome a number of obstacles in Paris, first arriving with physical uncertainty following an injury sustained in Rome. Then she lost her first set in a Grand Slam final before coming very close to defeat.

But the Pole held on to win her third Roland-Garros title. Asked in the press conference about her emotions after the final, Swiatek confided that she had let out all her emotions from the previous weeks, explaining that it wasn’t easy to stay mentally strong during a long tournament like this.

“Last year for sure it was a confirmation for me that the first time wasn’t coincidence or something like that.

“This one, for sure, it was a little bit tougher in terms of, you know, as you said, injuries and the pressure, and also coming back to this tournament as a defending champion, I right now feel like it’s a little bit different.”

Swiatek: I’m never going to doubt my strength again

She added that she was well aware of the danger that Muchova could pose, coming back from a set down: “I don’t know what I felt. It’s hard to describe. But a lot of happiness. I felt suddenly, you know, tired of these three weeks. Maybe my matches weren’t like physically exhausting, but it’s pretty hard to kind of keep your focus for these almost three weeks. And also the whole swing, you know. Since Stuttgart I haven’t been home.

“So I’m happy that, I don’t know, I finished the whole clay court swing so well, and that I kind of survived. I guess I’m never going to kind of doubt my strength again maybe because of that,” she concluded with a smile.

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