Iga Swiatek showcased her impeccable tennis once more by winning the 2022 Roland Garros over Coco Gauff.
Swiatek arrived as the overwhelming favorite to win the clay-court Grand Slam, and she did it. The final match was contested on Saturday against Gauff, and she won it easily in two sets, 6-1, 6-3, to secure her second career Roland Garros trophy.
There isn’t much to be said about Swiatek because she has dominated the WTA Tour for a couple of months now. It started a few weeks after Ashleigh Barty officially retired as the active number-one player.
Swiatek won the Qatar Open in Doha and then went on a rampage, winning the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami) and keeping that domination across the clay season all the way to the Italian Open, which she won easily as well.
With that type of form, it was only a question of how many sets she would lose en route to the trophy, and she didn’t lose too many. The final match encapsulated her run in a stunning fashion.
Gauff didn’t make the final by chance; she earned it by playing some super solid tennis, but once in the final, she had no chances. Swiatek dominated easily from the start, taking the opening set 6-1.
A slightly erratic Gauff showed up, losing her first service game. She simply faced a superior player who was in the final of a major before and knew what she needed to do. The matchup isn't ideal for Gauff either, as Swiatek has ways to counter what the American does well.
The Pole never let up after taking that initial break of serve, winning the first set 6-1. Gauff tried to be a bit more aggressive at the start of the second set and briefly it worked as she took a 2-0 lead. It seemed like fans in the French capital would get a proper final after all but Swiatek quickly pulled it back to 2-2.
She then took a 3-2 lead simply by solving problems on the court. Mats Wilander called her an excellent problem-solver, and that's something that Gauff still needs to learn. Swiatek kept up the pressure, winning the second set 6-3 without too many problems to win her second Roland Garros title.
The triumph over Gauff put her winning streak at 35 matches, which is incredible and arguably one of the most iconic runs in tennis history.
It’s certainly the most impressive run from a player in recent tennis history as Swiatek once again proved that taking over as world number one from Barty wasn’t so much about the latter retiring, but her simply blossoming into the best player in the world.