On Saturday, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek successfully defended her French Open 2023 crown after a hard-fought win over unseeded Karolina Muchova in the women’s singles final.
Swiatek defeated unseeded Karolina Muchova by winning nine of the first 11 games, but her opponent pulled off an incredible comeback to force the match into a third set. But ultimately, Swiatek would prevail late Saturday night in Paris 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 when Muchova double-failed on match point. And so Swiatek defended her title at Roland Garros, winning her third in four years and fourth major overall.
Muchova, ranked No. 46, dropped four consecutive points on her first serve game due to sloppiness, and Swiatek quickly built a 3-0 lead. But Muchova settled down when Swiatek served, with the score at 3-1. She started making long groundstrokes, which made it possible for her to reach the net and score. Swiatek defeated Muchova’s lone break-point opportunity with a powerful, lashing backhand in a match that lasted more than nine minutes and featured four double-digit points.
The second set started to replicate the first one, with Swiatek leading 3-0 once more. However, this time Muchova created a second break opportunity and capitalised on it by winning with a forehand down the line to return to service at 2-3.
Muchova broke Swiatek’s serve for the third time in a row as the momentum continued. But three games later, at 2-all, it was back on serve. In the seventh game, the pivotal break occurred. It was love-30 after a double fault by Swiatek, 15-40 after a beautiful drop shot, and 4-3 after Muchova manoeuvred Swiatek all over the court.
To tie the game, Swiatek retook the lead and then held off a second break point to take the lead, 5-4. Muchova’s lone third double fault of the game proved to be the deciding factor.
“Last year, for sure, it was a confirmation for me that the first time wasn’t a coincidence or something like that. This one, for sure, was a little bit tougher in terms of injuries and pressure, and also, coming back to this tournament as a defending champion, I right now feel like it’s a little bit different. I needed to really handle that,” WTA.com quoted Swiatek as saying.