By Mike Dickson Swiatek’s in a class of her own, on and off the court
Pole blows Gauff away – and offers her support to Ukraine
THERE is little of the superstar about unassuming Iga Swiatek — apart from the way she plays tennis.
The 21-year-old from Poland belongs in a class of her own and she only emphasised that with her crushing dismissal of Coco Gauff in yesterday’s French Open final.
Her 6-1, 6-3 victory in just 68 minutes left the 18-year-old American in tears and Swiatek in some rarefied company when it comes to the dominance she is exercising over her peers.
It is now 35 straight victories and counting, going back to mid-February, which equals the mark set by both the Williams sisters at the height of their careers.
She has now collected two of the last three titles at Roland Garros and there are likely to be plenty more to come.
Both players made emotional speeches afterwards and, while Gauff is something of a crowd darling, it was Swiatek who drew the most applause. ‘I want to say something to Ukraine: stay strong, the world is still there,’ she said, as if emphasising she is more about substance than superficial style.
Throughout the tournament Swiatek has been wearing a Ukraine emblem, at a time when many of her peer group seem more concerned about how any action on the issue might affect their ranking.
She said: ‘Many players have taken off the ribbons and there is huge discussion about the next tournaments and points. It’s not about that but the whole situation there and I want people to be aware.’
The most substantial thing about her game are her beautifully timed, heavy groundstrokes, delivered from a short backswing that makes them
difficult to read. Even Gauff, who is a superb mover, was often left flatfooted as she unleashed them into the corners.
It has not been an especially easy fortnight for the women’s game, with controversy over the men being preferred for the new night slot at Roland Garros and it could have used a more memorable contest than this.
Wimbledon has chosen to disproportionately ramp up the price of its women’s final tickets this year to £240 each and at SW19 they may have been looking on uneasily.
But then
Swiatek was the one top-10 female player left by the last 16, so her romping to the title this week was hardly unexpected. Gauff said: ‘The best thing she does is change direction really well on her shots. Compared to other players, you’re not used to seeing so many winners down the line. She does a good job with that and taking the ball early. On clay it’s difficult to do.
‘Her and Ash [the now retired Barty] are the hardest I’ve played against. It probably looked like I was freaking out, but really it was just that Iga was too good.’
Gauff started nervously to go 0-4 down. She briefly led in the second set but nobody could have lived with Swiatek’s forehands.