Bill Simons and Vinay Venkatesh
Paris
As I woke up and gazed out of the fifth floor window of my Rue Vautier room I got a gift. A single white feather, delicate and grand, drifted by. Time stopped. I wondered why.
Sometimes sports gives us gifts. This era of women’s tennis has given us the power and thunder of Serena, the enigmatic elegance of Venus, the ever-changing journey of Osaka and the here-today-gone-tomorrow goodness of Ash Barty. And here the French Open has given us a different gift: beauty.
The little known Czech Karolina Muchova seems to float. She’s not Roger Federer – no one is. But she brings a balance, speed, flow and grace to a sport that takes on a different dimension when it’s played with great skill and easy elegance.
It’s said, “Beauty will save the world.”
*****
Today, No. 43 Muchova had some hope. Long ago, in 2019, she beat Swiatek. Plus, the Czech had been on a roll in Paris. She had dismissed Maria Sakkari in the first round and came back from match point to score a shock upset over No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka. Now she hoped to be the first player to win against the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds.
But this is the Age of Iga. She’s just 22, and already she’s been No. 1 for 62 weeks. The defending French Open champion was hoping to win her third French title and fourth major. “She’s been ruling Roland Garros like queens of the past,” noted broadcaster Steve Weissman.
The Pole moves fast – her quick steps jab the clay. She talks fast. Her adept word blizzards bring to mind Monica Seles. And today she came out fast. In all white, she was all business as usual. She collected 15 of the first 18 points, and in seven minutes was up 3-0.
Twenty-six-year-old Muchova calmed down and began to play with some freedom. She managed to get on the scoreboard and actually gained a breakpoint. But it’s always tough to play a Slam final, and Iga goes into beast mode in the later stages of a tourney. Swiatek is 13-4 in finals. Karolina confided, “I have to play perfect to win.” But today she couldn’t.
A step slow, Muchova’s slices couldn’t take Iga out of her rhythm, and the Pole collected the first set with ease, 6-2. And Swiatek is a ruthless frontrunner. On clay, when she has taken the first set, she has won 55 of 56 matches.
After the opening set, Iga changed her shirt on the sideline, but little changed on court. The Pole again broke and went up 3-0. Her forehands went deep and high to the corners. Muchova couldn’t unleash her slices. Iga’s anticipation was uncanny – she’s the WTA’s best mind reader. Her footwork is a wonder. She attacks and rarely relents.
The crowd murmured. The Pole-verizer pounded. Once again Roland Garros was becoming Poland Garros. Everything Karolina had done so well against No. 2 Sabalenka was now distinctly ineffectual.
The Czech hadn’t checked out, but the match seemed over. She was down 6-2, 3-0. Karolina, who left last year’s tournament in a wheelchair, seemed destined to soon be in the locker room. She’d made a noble effort, but Swiatek is Swiatek. The Pole was well on her way to becoming the first WTA player to win her first four Slams in straight sets.
But Muchova didn’t want to go home. She upped her aggression, hit with depth and played with variety and confidence. At last her slices got Iga out of rhythm. Karolina roared back, winning three games in a row to even the set 3-3. Inexplicably, Iga’s level dropped. She screamed at her box and banged herself on the head.
At 4-4, Swiatek double faulted to give Karolina the break. Then a series of whiplash changes unfolded. Iga broke back. Muchova scored some brilliant stretch volleys, and, on her third set point, grabbed the second set 7-5.
Karolina won ten points in a row and was in full flight. She went up 2-0 in the third set and was surging, just like she had in her semifinal win over Sabalenka.
But Swiatek is a fierce competitor. She refuses to lose. She’s a fabulous match manager whose mental toughness is already legendary. The Pole, who was on a 13-match Paris winning streak, told herself to stop thinking and analyzing so much. “Just loosen up,” she thought. “Rely on your instincts.” She hit out and (no surprise here) snapped out of her funk to win three games in a row to go up 3-2. Karolina had played 4.5 more hours in the Open than the Pole. Her legs were feeling it. Six times Muchova got to 30-0 – but amazingly, she never got to 40-0.
Deep in the tight deciding set, Swiatek and Muchova traded breaks. Then Karolina had a chance of a lifetime. At 4-4, she had a breakpoint to be able to serve for the title. But she faltered.
Tennis is a sport of narrow margins. Execution at crunch time is everything. Iga stormed back to hold serve. Then, in a flash, a glorious battle would end ingloriously. Karolina double faulted on championship point and fell 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
Beauty, grace and variety have huge value. But the sign on Court Philippe-Chatrier contends, “Victory belongs to the tenacious.” And Ms. Swiatek is nothing if not tenacious. With her win she became the youngest player since Seles to win consecutive titles, the first woman to defend her title since Justine Henin and the youngest player to win four Slams since Serena.
But during the trophy ceremony, Iga suffered her most embarrassing unforced error of the tourney. As she gleefully shook the Suzanne-Lenglen Cup, the top flipped off and clanked on the clay. But never mind, these days, nobody tops Iga.
IGA SPEAKS OUT: When asked about the controversy that swirled around the Ukrainian war during the French Open, Iga Swiatek replied, “The tennis community…[should be] together in every effort to make the Russian aggression stop. My support goes to all the Ukrainians, because I know that their situation isn’t easy. If I were in their shoes, I don’t know if I would be able to compete. So I really respect them, and want to keep my focus on doing what’s going be right for them.”
AMERICA WATCH: Tampa’s Austin Krajicek and Croatian Ivan Dodig downed the all-Belgian team of Joran Vliegen and Sander Gille 6-3, 6-1 to win the men’s doubles. Krajicek will now be the No. 1 doubles player in the world. Now, oddly, Americans have won the double in 2023, 2013 (Bob and Mike Bryan), 2003 (Bob and Mike Bryan) and 1993 (Luke and Murphy Jenson.) American Ryan Harrison and New Zealand’s Michael Venus won in 2017.
Americans could possibly leave Paris with two French Open titles. The North American duo of Taylor Townsend and Leylah Fernandez will take on Wang Xinyu and Hsieh Su-wei for the women’s doubles title tomorrow.
In the boys juniors, USC’s Learner Tien and Florida’s Darwin Blanch both fell in the semis.
