On Saturday, at exactly 23 years and 8 days old, Iga Świątek became the youngest tennis player in history to win the French Open in Paris four times. The Pole is already often mentioned in the same breath as tennis legends.
Until now, the youngest player to win four titles in the French capital was Justine Henin, who did it when she was exactly two years older.
Świątek’s latest triumph was also her third in a row, which means she has repeated the feat achieved by Henin in 2005-07 and former Yugoslavian Monika Seles (1990-92). In the open era (since 1968), no female tennis player has won four consecutive titles in Paris.
During that time, Chris Evert won the most French Open titles – seven. The American had already said before the start of this year’s edition that Świątek would improve her result.
“I am convinced of that. Iga is determined, more focused. Even when she loses, she does not lose her cool head. She has everything it takes to become a champion,” emphasized Evert, who won her fourth title in the French capital at the age of 25 years and 186 days.
A part of the tennis world is systematically growing, for whom beating Evert’s result is simply a matter of time and is already focusing on a much bigger goal, or rather the biggest one. The “King of Clay”, the “King of Paris” is Rafael Nadal, who has won here 14 times. During his lifetime, the Spaniard had a monument on the grounds of the Roland Garros tennis complex.
Świątek takes a calm approach to the increasingly frequent comparisons with Nadal, her tennis idol.
“We’ll see if my career turns out to be similar. Of course, such a comparison is extremely nice for me. I would never expect that someone would compare me to “Rafa” because for me he is above everyone, an absolute legend,” she emphasized.
“I’m proud of myself for playing consistently here and being mentioned in the same sentence as Rafa. It’s really cool,” she added.
Comparisons to Nadal may seem exaggerated, but the numbers show that they are not completely unfounded. The Spaniard also had four titles in Paris at the age of 23, and a record of 31 wins and one loss. Świątek’s record is 35-2.
Even more incredible is the comparison of all their matches on clay courts. Świątek won 87.9 percent of her matches on clay, while Nadal, at the age of 23, could boast a winning percentage of 87.5.
After the Pole’s victory over the American Coco Gauff in the semi-final, the French daily “Liberation” wondered whether Świątek was not “Nadalizing” because when the two-week competition in Paris comes, she becomes “unbeatable or almost unbeatable”.
In addition to her four titles in Paris, Świątek also has a triumph at the 2022 US Open under her belt. This means that she has already equaled the results of Swiss Martina Hingis and Russian Maria Sharapova.
When asked directly what she thought of the girl who, at the age of 23, had already won five Grand Slam tournaments, she replied in her inimitable style: “That she didn’t waste any time.”
