Magnificent Swiatek dominates Gauff to regain French Open title

STATS Perform/dpa ParIs Poland’s Iga Swiatek stretched her incredible winning run to 35 matches by beating Coco Gauff in straight sets to regain the French...

STATS Perform/dpaParIsPoland’s Iga Swiatek stretched her incredible winning run to 35 matches by beating Coco Gauff in straight sets to regain the French Open title.The ruthless world number one outclassed Gauff on Court Philippe-Chatrier, beating the 18-year-old American 6-1, 6-3 in only 68 minutes.Swiatek, 21, was relentless at Roland Garros on Saturday, winning her second grand slam title two years after claiming her first in Paris.The top seed was broken for the only time at the start of the second set, but otherwise hardly put a foot wrong and won six games in a row to get her hands on the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen again after winning a sixth consecutive tournament.Gauff, the 18th seed, could still win a maiden major title when she teams up with Jessica Pegula in the women’s doubles final on Sunday.A nervy Gauff was broken in the first game when she drilled a forehand long, with an aggressive Swiatek consolidating that break courtesy of a rasping forehand winner after a great serve.The teenager was struggling with her forehand and made a string of errors as the composed Swiatek secured a double break for a 3-0 lead.There was a big cheer for Gauff when she held to get on the board at 4-1, but Swiatek continued to dictate with her excellent serve, power, precision and athleticism, raising her fist after a majestic forehand winner put her a game away from winning the first set.Swiatek had the set wrapped up in only 32 minutes when Gauff put a backhand wide after another glorious backhand winner from the top seed.Gauff was not feeling sorry for herself and had a first break in the opening game of the second set as the favourite fired a forehand into the tramlines.She was unable to build on that strong start to the set, putting a forehand wide after a double fault to ensure Swiatek was back on serve at 2-1.The momentum was firmly with Swiatek as Gauff continued to make too many errors, winning six games in a row to take the title, with her opponent firing a return long to end a one-sided final.In a week in which she celebrated her birthday, Swiatek became the sixth player to win her first two finals at Roland Garros in the Open Era. Margaret Court, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Justine Henin and Serena Williams also achieved that feat.She has also matched Venus Williams’ record of 35 consecutive wins, the longest streak by a female player in the 2000s.Tearful Gauff hails ‘amazing’ IgaCoco Gauff shed tears as she soaked up defeat to Iga Swiatek.Gauff will likely have her day again on such a big stage, but this was a harrowing experience at times.As Swiatek celebrated, Gauff sat alone with her thoughts as thunder rumbled in the skies above. She was quietly crying, as was perfectly understandable for one so young, but wiped the tears away with her towel.In a post-match speech, she said: “This is the first time for me, so let’s try to get through this.“First, I want to congratulate Iga, what you’ve done on tour the past couple of months has truly been amazing, and you totally deserve it.“Hopefully we can play each other in more finals, and maybe I can get a win on you one of these days.”For Swiatek, this was a sixth consecutive title and a 35th match win in a row.Gauff had not dropped a set in Paris leading up to the final, but she had faced only one seed, number 31 Elise Mertens in round four.“Next, I’d like to thank my team,” Gauff said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get this one today.”This was when the tears began to seriously flow as Gauff broke off to gather herself.The composure returned, and Gauff added: “Hopefully this is the first final of many, and I really appreciate you guys a lot. You helped me so much throughout this year.”She thanked all and sundry, including the crowd, saying: “Thank you, you guys, you supported me even when I was down. Even when I was down match points, you were still cheering me on. That means a lot, so truly thank you.”