Alcaraz, Swiatek Win French Open Titles
The 2024 French Open came to a close this weekend in Paris, and on both the men’s side we had a first-time champion while on the women’s side, one player continued her dominance on the red clay.
Iga Swiatek continued her Roland Garros reign, completing a dominant fortnight was a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the championship match on Saturday.
“I think it was a really good match,” said Swiatek. “I mean, I got broken at the beginning, so it wasn’t maybe perfect, but I think the level was pretty high. It wasn’t so easy as the score says. I think I played pretty well considering all these facts and the pressure.”
Swiatek was broken early on in the first set, but she quickly responded with a break-at-love. That game was the first of 10 consecutive won for the Polish star, and created the separation she needed to put away the championship in one hour and eight minutes.
“I’ll always try my best no matter what the score is,” she added. “Sometimes it’s going to add up like that, sometimes I’m gonna lose. But when you’re trying your best, it’s always the best solution, because you have no regrets.”
Swiatek’s win is her third straight and fourth overall at the French Open, the fifth major of her career.
On Sunday, Carlos Alcaraz earned the third major title of his career and first in Paris as he came back to defeat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in the championship.
“Winning a Grand Slam is always special. Winning your first in every Grand Slam is always super special,” said Alcaraz. “But in Roland Garros, knowing all the Spanish players who have won this tournament and be able to put my name on that amazing list is something unbelievable. I dreamed about being in this position since I started playing tennis, since I was five or six years old. So it’s a great, great feeling.”
After Alcaraz coughed up a lead in the third set, he responded strongly with his back against the wall. He rolled in the fourth set, and in the decider, he broke early and saved multiple break points while serving up 2-1. He would proceed to hold, and secured another break point to create too much separation from Zverev.
A few games later, Alcaraz would seal up the title, and gave a lot of credit to his coaching team for getting him ready for this event.
“It has been incredible work,” said Alcaraz at the trophy ceremony. “The last month we were struggling a lot with the injury. Looking back to Madrid, I didn’t feel well. The next week there were a lot of doubts and then coming here and practising not too much. I am really grateful to have the team that I have and the people I have around.
“I know that everyone in my team is giving their heart just to make me improve as a player and a person. To grow up. So I am really grateful and I call you a team, but it is a family.”
