After the American defeated French hero Lois Boisson, Adrienne Sabalenka put an end to Iga Swiatek’s French Open dominance with a devastating third-set victory over Coco Gauff on Thursday.
With a 7-6 (7-1) 4-6, 6-0 victory in her first clay-court Grand Slam final, the Belarusian snapped Swiatek’s winning streak to reach her 26th match.
After defeating Swiatek in a decisive set at the French Open, Sabalenka declared, “Iga is the toughest opponent, especially on the clay and at Roland Garros.”
“I’m pleased that I received this victory,” he said.
In the second semi-final against Court Philippe Chatrier, world number two Gauff defeated 361st-ranked wildcard Boisson 6-1, 6-2 to put an end to his dream run.
In their head-to-head competition, Gauff and Sabalenka are at 5- 5 overall, and they have won one of their two matches at major tournaments.
Before Swiatek hit back to level the match, Sabalenka edged a topsy-turvy first set that featured eight serve breaks in a tie-break.
The third set ended up being a complete anti-climax, with only six points being won by Swiatek, who made 12 unforced errors in the process.
“I’m happy I found my job,” he said. The 27-year-old Sabalenka remarked that the serve was a little easier. What can I say, 6-0, is a perfect score for something?
After winning the US Open and the Australian Open consecutively in 2023 and 2024, Sabalenka wants to win a fourth Grand Slam title, first one on hard courts.
Since winning the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen a year ago, Swiatek hasn’t yet reached a WTA final.
She showed signs of revival on the Paris clay, where she has been a force since winning the French Open in 2020 as a teenager, but her game was lost in the decisive set, allowing her to suffer her third successive defeat.
Swiatek expressed his happiness at having the opportunity to play in so many top tournaments here, saying, “I love playing here.”
In total, Sabalenka has won five of its previous six meetings.
The pair, who have been the most popular women’s tennis players for the past few years, have met in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since Swiatek won in the 2022 US Open semi-finals to win the title.
When Sabalenka takes on Gauff, who she lost in the US Open final in 2023, Sabalenka will be the favorite to win the trophy.
Swiatek will drop to seventh place in the world rankings next week as a result of her bid to win four consecutive French Opens.
Gauff is too strong,
In the previous two rounds, third-seeded Jessica Pegula and world number six Mirra Andreeva had beaten Boisson, but Gauff’s test turned out to be insufficient.
A second seed’s brutal opening set kept the home crowd at bay.
In the second set, Boisson briefly woke up the French fans by breaking them in, only to immediately concede it.
Gauff successfully advanced to the second French Open final after only 69 minutes on the court.
In her on-court interview, Gauff remarked to the crowd, “I was thinking my name when you guys were chanting her name.
“I’m going to enjoy this one for now and then get ready for the final tomorrow,” I remarked. “Obviously there is still a lot to do.
The 21-year-old will believe she can finally win the tournament where she has reached at least the quarter-finals in five straight years despite being emotionally defeated by Swiatek in the 2022 final.
Boisson made 33 errors in total, making her only previous appearance in the Open era after Mary Pierce.
The 22-year-old admitted to being “really disappointed” today because she “often wanted to go further than this semi-final,” adding “obviously I’m going to take the time to digest this.”
She will climb into the world’s top 70 next week and has added 690, 000 euros ($789, 536) to her previous career prize money of $148, 009.
Source: Channels TV
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