Swiatek retains Italian Open crown
IGA Swiatek swept to victory at the Italian Open yesterday, beating Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 to retain the title and claim her fifth tournament crown in a row.
World No 1 Swiatek dropped to her knees in tears of joy after winning her 28th match in a row, and is red-hot favourite for Roland Garros which starts later this month.
“I’m going to celebrate with a lot of tiramisu,” Swiatek joked on court before adding “see you at the French Open”.
The 20-year-old Pole has dropped just one set in her last 20 matches and made light work of Jabeur, ranked seven in the world, in a largely one-sided final in Rome.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic won his sixth Italian Open title yesterday after a straight-sets victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0 7-6(5) in Rome.
World No 1 Djokovic saw off Monte Carlo Masters champion Tsitsipas to claim the last major tournament before Roland Garros gets underway later this month.
The 34-year-old won his first tournament of the season and confirmed his return to form after an opening few months of the season dominated by Covid-19 vaccination controversy.
Yesterday’s clash was a rematch of the pair’s final at last year’s French Open final, but had little of the drama of that five-set thriller eventually won by the Serb in Paris.
Djokovic had already ensured he will be world number one for a record-extending 370th week and claimed his 1 000th career victory, against Casper Ruud, on Saturday to reach the final. And he made surprisingly short work of Greece’s Tsitsipas, who still leads the men’s tour for wins this season.