Iga Swiatek cops 4th Grand Slam after ruling 2023 French Open

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

For the third time in four years, Iga Swiatek is once again the queen of Roland Garros.

After all the high-intensity action during the grand finals of the French Open, Swiatek proved why she is the world’s no. 1 female tennis player after surviving a tough challenge from Karolina Muchova- 6.2, 5.7, 6.4- to raise her fourth Grand Slam trophy last June 10, 2023, held in France.

Swiatek displayed heart, poise under pressure, and her signature killer instinct as the Czech challenger became the only opponent that handed her a set loss in the entire tournament.

The Polish queen of tennis went off to the races in the opening set as her powerful baseline bombs kept Muchova out of her hitting rhythm in the first 20 minutes of action.

Muchova failed to figure out Swiatek’s groundstroke pattern and kept her guessing all the time if the world no.1 will throw a down-the-line or keep the baseline rally exchange in the middle.

As the match went by, Muchova seemed to decipher a bit of Swiatek’s game plan when she changed gears and went toe-to-toe with her on the baseline.

That move paid off dividends as the Czech star’s patience during the long exchanges caused Swiatek to commit several unlikely errors.

Those errors proved to be crucial as Muchova’s confidence rose and lifted her out of her hitting slump to stun Swiatek in the second set.

Unfazed despite dropping her very first set in the Grand Slam tourney, Swiatek calmly pulled off several offensive variations to catch Muchova off guard in the first two games of the third and last set.

Swiatek showed versatility to clinch the crucial championship points and put the crowd on their feet when she pummeled Muchova with back-to-back backhand kills.

Muchova showed signs of life after clinching a service possession hold but Swiatek was eager to go for the kill and held the Czech until four sets won to collect her third French Open trophy.