FRENCH OPEN
Ruthless Swiatek crushes Gauff to clinch second French Open title
World number one Iga Swiatek confirmed her dominance of women’s tennis by sweeping aside American teenager Coco Gauff 6-1 6-3 to claim her second French Open title in three years on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Pole’s blend of power, poise and precision on the clay was too much to handle for the 18-year-old Gauff, who never recovered from a shaky start in her maiden Grand Slam final.
Swiatek, who took over as world number one when Australian Ash Barty announced her shock retirement in March, has now won 35 consecutive matches – matching the longest unbeaten streak since Venus Williams in 2000.
She raced through the opening set and snapped Gauff’s brief resistance in the second to become the fourth player this century to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup on multiple occasions.
“Two years ago winning this was something amazing. This time I feel I worked hard to get here. It was pretty tough, the pressure was big,” said Swiatek after sobbing when the Polish anthem was being played.
“Thank you fans for the support, for coming, all the Polish flags I see there,” she added, also thanking her team.
“I am happy that every piece has finally come together.”
Gauff thanked her team for getting her to the final.
“I’m sorry I could not get this one today, but thank you guys for always supporting me,” she said.
Gauff had promised to play without pressure but in muggy conditions, she failed to find her breath as Swiatek’s all-in tennis added to the suffocating atmosphere.
The top seed, who now has two Grand Slam titles to her name, made the most of her opponent’s early nerves to break in the first game, setting the tone of a showdown many had hoped would be a close contest.
A superb backhand passing shot winner got Gauff into the groove, but Swiatek kept the pressure on and stole her serve again as she dragged the American off the court and forced her to hit a forehand wide.
She held for 4-0 and with little to lose, Gauff started to play more freely.
But the Pole hit back harder to go 5-1 up with a gravity-defying forehand winner that dusted the baseline.
Gauff saved a set point with a forehand winner but fired a backhand wide to go one down after just over half an hour.
But as a cool breeze lowered the temperature on court Philippe Chatrier, Gauff turned up the heat to go 2-0 up in the second set.
Eager for a longer contest, the crowd chanted “Coco, Coco!” as Gauff slipped to 0-30 on her serve at 2-1.
Swiatek was undeterred and she broke back for 2-2 before drowning Gauff in a deluge of winners to race to 5-2 up.
The American’s ordeal ended after 68 minutes when she sent a forehand long to hand Swiatek the title.
The new champion ran to her box after a brief celebration, while Gauff sat on her courtside chair and wept.
-Reuters
Venus Williams will compete in doubles at the French Open later this month, organisers confirmed on Wednesday.
Williams, 45, will partner with Hailey Baptiste, 24, for the clay-court tournament at Roland Garros, which begins on May 24 in Paris.
Williams, however, will not compete in the singles tournament.
She was a wild-card entry at the Australian Open, where she lost in three sets during the first round to Serbia’s Olga Danilovic.
Williams is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles. She has won seven Grand Slam titles in singles and 14 in doubles, including the French Open in doubles in 1999 and 2010.
-Reuters
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Newly-crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff, the first Black American to win the title in a decade, said on Saturday her victory in Paris was for people back home who looked like her and struggled amid ongoing political turmoil.
Gauff battled from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 and lift her first French Open crown and her second Grand Slam title after the 2023 U.S. Open.
She is the first Black American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015.
“It means a lot (to win the title), and obviously there’s a lot going on in our country right now with things — like, everything, yeah. I’m sure you guys know,” she said, smiling but without elaborating further.
“But just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of, I guess, people that look like me in America who maybe don’t feel as supported during this time period, and so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people.”
There has been ongoing political turmoil in the United States following the election of President Donald Trump last year.
Trump’s first few months in office have featured an unapologetic assault on diversity and inclusion efforts, unravelling decades-old policies to remedy historical injustices for marginalised groups in a matter of weeks.
In his second term, Trump revoked a landmark 1965 executive order mandating equal employment opportunities for all, slashed environmental actions to protect communities of colour and ordered the gutting of an agency that helped fund minority and women-owned businesses.
The actions have alarmed advocates, who say they effectively erase decades of hard-fought progress on levelling the playing field for marginalised communities.
“I remember after the election and everything, it kind of felt a down period a little bit and my mom told me during Riyadh (in November 2024) ‘just try to win the tournament, just to give something for people to smile for’.
“So that’s what I was thinking about today when holding that (trophy).
“Then seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. You know, some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic and things like that, but I’m definitely patriotic and proud to be American, and I’m proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support.”
Trump has previously denied claims he has employed racist attacks and an agenda throughout his political career.
-Reuters
Paris St Germain forward Ousmane Dembele got a roaring welcome usually reserved for tennis champions when he carried the freshly-won Champions League trophy onto centre court on Monday.
The French soccer club beat Inter Milan 5-0 in the showcase match in Munich on Saturday to clinch the trophy for the first time before the players and staff got a heroes’ welcome in the French capital on Sunday.
The festivities for Dembele, who was voted the Champions League Player of the Season, continued on Monday when he carried the shiny trophy onto Court Philippe Chatrier in front of more than 10,000 people.
He was wearing a white T-shirt with the word “triumph” written on it.
Paris St Germain’s Ousmane Dembele presents the Champions League trophy on the Philippe-Chatrier court before the fourth round match between Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Britain’s Cameron Norrie REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Organisers could not have timed the brief ceremony better, with Europe’s most prestigious soccer club trophy arriving minutes after world number 361 and wild card Lois Boisson of France stunned third-seeded American Jessica Pegula in three sets to reach the last eight in the upset of the tournament.
“Ici c’est Paris, (This is Paris)” shouted Dembele as the normally more reserved afternoon tennis crowd erupted with cheers.
“Exceptional, it was a magic moment in Munich. We played an exceptional season and were rewarded with our first European Cup,” France international Dembele told the crowd.
“The individual titles are fine but it is the collective titles that matter. We will try to win as many titles as possible.”
Novak Djokovic, the 24-times Grand Slam champion and three-times winner in Paris, was on court later for a straight sets win over Briton Cameron Norrie and he was quick to congratulate the Paris club, having joined in PSG’s Sunday festivities.
“An incredible season for PSG so congratulations to all Parisians,” the Serb said after his 100th career win on the Roland Garros clay. “It was amazing to be there yesterday.
“Two days ago during the game I was playing and it was a bit complicated to get to my hotel afterwards, complicated being an understatement. The roads were quite the show.”
PSG are only the second French side to win the European Cup after Olympique de Marseille in 1993.
-Reuters
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