Iga Swiatek said that she has “no expectations” for Wimbledon despite taking her winning streak to 35 matches by securing a second French Open title.
The world number one cruised past teenager Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 in Saturday’s final at Roland Garros to win her sixth successive tournament this year, including four WTA 1,000 titles and one major.
The Pole won the Indian Wells-Miami double to show her hard-court prowess, having also lifted the title in Doha, and has now dominated on clay by emerging victorious in Stuttgart, Rome and Paris.
But to extend her unbeaten run, she may have to improve her career grass-court record of four wins and four losses in main-draw matches.
“My coach (Tomasz Wiktorowski) believes I can win more matches on grass,” said Swiatek, who has reached the second week at seven consecutive Grand Slam tournaments.
“I don’t know about that yet. But I would like to add like one or two.
“But honestly, grass is always tricky. I actually like the part that I have no expectations there. It’s something kind of refreshing.”
Last year, Swiatek showed signs of improvement on the surface by reaching the Wimbledon fourth round and her coach Wiktorowski saw his former charge Agnieszka Radwanska reach her only Grand Slam final at the All England Club in 2012.
“I’m going to just prepare my best,” said Swiatek.
“Maybe with his experiences that he had with Aga Radwanska, it was her favourite surface, so maybe he’s going to give me some tips that are actually going to be really helpful, and I’m going to enjoy playing on grass a little bit more.”
- Passing Serena ‘special’ -
She equalled Venus Williams’ run of 35 straight wins in 2000 for the longest winning streak by a woman in the 21st century.
Swiatek’s victory also took her past Serena Williams’ longest unbeaten run of 34 matches, something she says made her win even more satisfying.
“I think honestly, it may seem pretty weird, but having that 35th win and kind of doing something more than Serena did, it’s something special,” said the 21-year-old.
“Because I always wanted to... have some kind of a record. In tennis it’s pretty hard after Serena’s career.
“So that really hit me, you know. Obviously winning a Grand Slam too, but this one was pretty special because I felt like I’ve done something that nobody has ever done, and maybe it’s gonna be even more.”
Swiatek has also now won her last nine finals, with the only WTA final defeat in her career coming in a low-key event in Lugano when she was just 17.
“I try to treat it as any other match, which is pretty hard and kind of not possible, because there are always going to be like bigger amount of stress,” she added.
“I guess I’m kind of accepting that a little bit more and just, I try to lean on the strengths...
“I’m also aware that my opponents are also going to be stressed. So I try to not panic and just be less stressed than they are.”
Swiatek now boasts an impressive 21-2 win-loss record at Roland Garros, although she has a long way to go to match her idol Rafael Nadal’s 111-3.
“He had many more chances to lose, so I think his stat is much, much better,” she said of the 13-time champion, who faces Casper Ruud in Sunday’s men’s final.
Proud Gauff
Gauff wept in her courtside chair, cried on the trophy podium and sobbed again in the press room as the US teenager admitted her French Open final defeat Saturday was a “lot to handle”.
Gauff, 18, was the youngest finalist at a major since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004.
After a tournament which had seen her celebrate her high school graduation and then win widespread praise for an impassioned plea to end gun violence in the United States, defeat to the Pole was a bitter end.
“The tears just come,” she said. “I try really hard not to cry on the court, and I knew whether I won or lost I was. I feel happy really and sad, I don’t know how to handle it.
“I hate myself for crying. After the match, my little brother was crying and I felt so bad, because I was trying to just tell him, ‘It’s just a tennis match’. I’m like, ‘Why are you crying?’ I’m like, ‘I’m crying too, I know. Everybody’s crying’. My physio was crying, and I was like, Jeez.”
Gauff had reached the final without dropping a set but Swiatek was rarely troubled once she stretched out to a 4-0 lead inside 20 minutes in the first set.
The first set was over in 32 minutes and although Gauff saw a glimmer of hope when she broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set, it only fired up Swiatek even more.
Despite the defeat, the American took as much comfort from completing her education – which she marked with a series of photographs of her in back cap and gown in front of the Eiffel Tower – as she did finishing runner-up on Saturday.
“Seeing how much attention those graduation photos I got from just other people, Michelle Obama reposted that, and for me I think it reminded me that people are proud of me outside of tennis,” Gauff said.
“I think that moment really changed my perspective going into the tournament, the fact that so many people were happy and proud of me.
“I got almost pretty much the same amount of text messages when I finished that to today or yesterday when I made the final. Finishing school made me realise that I’m more than a tennis player, and that was really something that I was struggling with.”
French Open: Iga Swiatek, on the stairway to stardom
Post-match interviews:
Text inputs from AFP
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