The odds may be in Iga Swiatek’s favour to land a third French Open title in four years but when she walks on court in today’s final she will be facing an underdog with a penchant for taking down those at the top.
Enter Karolina Muchova. In five meetings with top three ranked players – including Thursday’s semi-final against world number two Aryna Sabalenka – the Czech has won them all.
But while a Grand Slam final is a different beast altogether, Muchova’s variety on court will pose a puzzle that top seed Swiatek must piece together in order to retain her title.
She has tried and failed before, Muchova coming out on top in three sets in their only previous meeting in Prague back in 2019, but the Pole has been doing her homework.
“I feel I know Karolina’s game anyway because I played many practices with her since 2019 and I also watch her more than most of the players,” Swiatek, 22, said. I really like her game. I really respect her and she’s a player who can do anything. She has great touch. She can also speed up the game. “She plays with that kind of freedom in her movements and she has a great technique. I feel like I know her game pretty well.”
At 43 in the world rankings, Muchova is the fourth-lowest ranked player to reach the women’s singles final at Roland Garros but is no stranger to the later stages of Grand Slams, having reached the quarter-finals at every major except the US Open, and the semi-finals in Australia in 2021. Injuries have stalled the 26-year-old’s progress – she was told just last year her career may be ove. – but she says it is a “dream” to be in to her first Slam final.
Of her playing style, which favours tactical nous over sheer power, she said: “I don’t really want to be like anyone else.
“It’s the type of game I enjoy and believe in. We are trying to improve it with the team. Now we can see that it works, so that’s nice. I’ll keep it this way.”
When Swiatek and Muchova last played four years ago, Swiatek was a qualifier and her opponent a wildcard. The following year, the unseeded Pole won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open without dropping a set. Now set for a 64th week as world number one she has only ever lost twice on the Roland Garros clay, and is the youngest woman to reach three French Open finals since Monica Seles.
Swiatek is still yet to drop a set at Roland Garros this year but, despite her dominance in Paris, she has dismissed talks of starting her own legacy at the tournament like her idol, 14-time men’s singles champion Rafael Nadal. “I’m more of a person who just tries to do her best every day and hope for the best,” she said. “What Nadal did and what he’s still doing, it’s pretty amazing. “I don’t know if it’s going to be possible for me. But I just try to compete, keep it cool year by year and just do everything step by step.”
On how she has improved since her first French Open win, she added: “I feel like I’m a better player. Improvement I feel is everywhere. “Everywhere, like tennis-wise, mentally, tactically, physically, just having the experience, everything. My whole life basically.”