French Open 2024: Iga Swiatek streaks to fourth title as Carlos Alcaraz wins his first

“To dream is the most important thing in sports and in life” — Jasmine Paolini, after defeating Mirra Andreeva in the French Open semifinals.

“Playing you here is the toughest challenge in the sport” — Paolini, after losing to Iga Swiatek in the French Open final.

This Cinderella story would almost inevitably end on the red clay in the Roland Garros final. After all, Jasmine Paolini, a 16-1 underdog, faced the Iga Swiatek, the Queen of Clay.

Casual tennis fans may not have even heard of the late-blooming 28-year-old Paolini, who had never made it past the second round of a Major until this year, when the Italian reached the fourth round of the Australian Open.

She then showed it was no fluke by winning a WTA 1000 title in Dubai. Her breakthrough year peaked in Paris where she outlasted 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals and outclassed fast-rising 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva to meet Swiatek in the final.

Although small in stature at 5’4”, Paolini is big in the intangibles: competitiveness, poise, and more recently, confidence. Unlike some players who have exuded a priori confidence like Jimmy Connors and Serena Williams before they achieved great results, Jasmine was bogged down by an inferiority complex since turning pro in 2011. It took career-changing success this season to change her mentality. After taking out Rybakina, she confided, “Honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t believe in myself.”

Renzo Furlan would help instill that much-needed confidence. A former pro ranked No. 19, Furlan began coaching Jasmine in 2015, and they were immediately simpatico. “Like me, she is someone who wants to experience first-hand, in the field, with the results, the goodness of the work that is done in training,” he told  La Gazzetta dello Sport. “And then she’s a fighter, with excellent technical foundations: fundamentally her strength is that she sticks to every point.”

The turning point in her stagnant career came last summer. “It clicked, she started playing well, she beat top-level opponents, and at the end of the year she found herself in the top 30,” said Furlan. “She began to believe in herself much more.” The last key in her surprising emergence — a career-high No. 7 — is tactical diversity. “Today she is a complete tennis player, she serves well, she knows how to hit with many variations, and above all, she is no longer only very skilled in defense, but she also knows how to attack, a fundamental combination.”

Alas, against Swiatek, Paolini didn’t even have the proverbial ‘puncher’s chance’ for an upset. Unlike highly athletic and versatile Karolina Muchova, who extended Swiatek to 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the thrilling final a year ago, the undersized Italian lacked the weapons.

Not even Jasmine’s best shot, an aggressive, topspin forehand, matched up against Iga’s forehand, the most devastating shot in women’s tennis since the booming serve of Serena Williams.

The most glaring disparity was first serve speed where Swiatek increased her average from 102 mph last year to 111 mph this season. In sharp contrast, Paolini averaged just 95 mph at Roland Garros.

“Swiatek does everything better than Paolini,” said NBC analyst and former No. 1 John McEnroe. “She’s fast becoming the Rafa Nadal on this surface,” referencing the 14-time Roland Garros champion. Indeed, Iga had won 20 straight matches at Roland Garros; she also thrived on pressure, going 4-0 in Grand Slam finals and 21-4 in all finals.

The final started with a bang. Intense and focused, Swiatek pumped her fist after smacking a backhand passing shot for 30-15. She held serve for 1-0. Looking surprisingly calm for the biggest match of her life, Paolini raced to a 40-0 lead.

When Swiatek responded with four straight points, including three forehand winners, to earn a break point at 40-Ad, former World No. 1 and NBC analyst John McEnroe said, “This is about as good as Paolini can play, so it would be discouraging if she lost this game.”

The hustling Italian hung on to hold serve and then broke serve for a stunning 2-1 lead. The crowd chanted “Iga! Iga!” and she responded like a champion. With her wicked Western forehand bounding high over the diminutive Paolini’s strike zone, Swiatek seized seven straight points, breaking serve and holding her own serve.

At 2-all, the point of the match, a ferocious 25-shot power rally, ended when the stronger and faster Pole belted a crosscourt backhand into the open court. Paolini can play incredible defence, but these days, even on clay, excellent offence beats excellent defence.

“Swiatek keeps relentless pressure on you,” said McEnroe. “You never can relax. Paolini got that break, but you have to sustain that intensity.” Not to mention, a high level of tennis.

After Swiatek took the opening set 6-2,  NBC analyst Mary Carillo posed a timeless question. “How can Paolini get the greatest reward with the least risk?” There simply was no solution as the toughest challenge in the sport got even tougher in the second set.

With the ruthless efficiency of a fictional gynoid in a baseball cap, Swiatek overpowered the merely human Paolini for a predictable 6-2, 6-1 triumph.

Awed by Switek’s unique game and mentality, Paolini raved, “She’s playing unbelievable here. She’s taking the balls early, taking time [from] you, but also using [heavy spin] rotation. She can defend really, really well. On clay, she’s unbelievable. I never played a player that has this intensity before in my life. I think I played, like, four games at that intensity. Then [it] was tough. But I was trying to hit as hard as I could.”

Iga’s fifth Grand Slam singles title tied her with both Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis and made her the heavy favorite to win her first gold medal at the Olympics in late July at Roland Garros.

The gap between the 5’9” Pole and the rest of the field on the Paris  terre battue (clay) was highlighted when she demolished 2019 runner-up Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and took out 2022 finalist Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4 in the penultimate round. The latter victory came on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the day that marked the beginning of the end of World War II. Unfortunately for Coco, it didn’t end the Swiatek’s domination of the 20-year-old American, who lost for the 11th time in their 12 encounters. Gauff left the City of Light with a smile and a prestigious title, though, when she paired Katerina Siniakova to beat Italians Paolini and fellow Italian Sara Errani 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Despite the legalisation of in-match coaching — players can talk to coaches on their side of the court and receive signals when they’re on the opposite side — Gauff used the worst tactics imaginable against Swiatek. She repeatedly engaged in crosscourt forehand exchanges, pitting her error-prone stroke against the super stroke of her opponent. Tennis number crunchers should create a new and surely revealing statistic to measure how many total forehands and backhands each player hits during a match. Coach Brad Gilbert would benefit from that data.

It takes a power hitter to stop the Swiatek juggernaut as Rybakina (4-2 against her) and Sabalenka (3-8) have done. Naomi Osaka, with four Grand Slam titles on hard courts, possesses as much all-court power as anyone.

Just two problems: Osaka, now ranked 134, hadn’t beaten a top-10 opponent since January 2020 and had never advanced past the third round at Roland Garros.

Since returning to the Tour in January after a 15-month hiatus due to maternity leave, the rusty, 26-year-old Japanese compiled a mediocre 13-9 match record. Osaka had to feel encouraged though by defeating No. 21 Caroline Garcia at Qatar, No. 15 Liudmila Samsonova at Indian Wells, and No. 17 Elina Svitolina at Miami — all in straight sets but on hard courts. Equally impressive, the former world No. 1 easily defeated No. 11 Daria Kasatkina and No. 20 Marta Kostyuk at the Italian Open on clay.

Osaka caught a break when her highly anticipated French Open second-round match against Swiatek was played under the roof due to the rain. And she took full advantage of it, never temporising just like during her 2018–21 prime. In the opening set, Naomi had a set point at 4-5, 30-40 but overhit a backhand deep and eventually lost a tiebreaker and the set, 7-6.

She overwhelmed Swiatek 6-1 in the second set, and when she surged to a 4-1 lead in the decider,  Tennis Channel analyst Lindsay Davenport said, “Osaka has made this clay court look like a hard court. And that’s not easy to do when you’re playing the best clay-courter.” When the Japanese went ahead 5-2, Davenport noted, “It’s been remarkable to see Osaka play at this high level for more than two hours.”

But could she sustain it?

Superb under pressure until then, Osaka finally succumbed to nerves as she served for the match at 5-3. On match point, Swiatek pounded a serve return that forced a backhand error. Osaka missed two more backhands to get broken.

“Osaka froze ever so slightly, and that was all Swiatek needed to turn it around,” said Davenport. Swiatek won the last five games to complete the 7-6, 1-6, 7-5 triumph, one of the greatest comebacks in her career.

“Iga was tested, and she held up so well,” said Davenport who called the engrossing, two-hour, 57-minute duel “the highest-quality second-round match at a major I’ve ever seen.”

Valiant in defeat, Osaka wound up with more games (17 to 15), more total points (114 to 109), and a better winner-unforced error differential (54-38 to 37-32). But as Darren Cahill famously said about converting match points in our beautiful scoring system, “You just can’t run out the clock.”

The Queen of Clay looks almost unbeatable at Roland Garros where she’s now compared to her girlhood idol, The King of Clay — Rafael Nadal.

With characteristic modesty, Swiatek brushed off the comparison. “We’ll see in 14 years if the journey is similar. I mean, that’s obviously really nice for me. I would never expect anybody to compare me to Rafa because for me he’s above everybody, and he’s a total legend. Yeah, as I said, we’ll see in a couple of years, but I’m proud of myself that I’m playing consistently here and that I’m mentioned in the same sentence as Rafa. That’s cool.”

A more realistic goal for the 23-year-old Pole is surpassing all-time great Chris Evert’s seven Roland Garros titles. “I have the record, but she is the best clay court player, bar none,” said Evert. “I have no doubt she’ll break my record.”

Alcaraz overcomes Zverev for first French Open and third Major Title

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes” — Mark Twain

“You have to enjoy the suffering” – Carlos Alcaraz

How poignant and poetic that in what was likely Rafael Nadal’s last Roland Garros, another swashbuckling Spaniard seized the mantle with his first title. When Carlos Alcaraz fell on his back to celebrate his five-set final victory over Alexander Zverev, it evoked indelible memories of Nadal.

The immortal King of Clay had rejoiced the same way after his record 14 titles. A touch of irony added to the broad sweep of history as Zverev beat the aging, fading Nadal in the first round only to have his compatriot successor stymie the German in the last round.

In the first French Open final without a member of the Big Three since 2004, Alcaraz became the youngest man, at 21, to capture a Grand Slam title on hard, clay, and grass courts, edging Nadal, who, at 22, completed the feat at the 2009 Australian Open.

This fortnight the Spanish sorcerer had to come back from being down two sets to one against Jannik Sinner in the semifinals and again in the dramatic final. Alcaraz must relish long matches as much to show off his repertoire of dazzling shots as his zeal for competition.

“Alcaraz is the greatest shot-maker in tennis, but sometimes he plays more with his heart than his head,” noted Carillo.

That audacity has endeared Alcaraz to fans worldwide, but living dangerously also got him into trouble on occasion. Even so,  The Telegraph (UK) made him a big betting favorite with 11-10 odds, while Zverev had 5-1 odds.

Even though both players were contesting their first French Open final, Alcaraz prevailed in his previous Grand Slam finals at the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Wimbledon, upsetting seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. In sharp contrast, Zverev faltered after coming within two points of the title at the 2020 US Open against Dominic Thiem.

Before this final, the candid Zverev discussed the heartbreaking setback: “I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it now again: I was not ready. I was not ready to win my first Grand Slam final. I was not mature enough. I was maybe too much of a kid still. I didn’t know what the occasion meant. And that’s why I lost. I’m 27 years old now. So definitely not a kid anymore. Already getting older. If not now, then when?”

Not this time. Even though Zverev led their rivalry 5-4, rode an 11-match clay winning streak after taking the Rome Masters, and boasted the best first serve in tennis, Alcaraz was better in just about every other category, except perhaps Zverev’s rock-solid backhand. Alcaraz enjoyed big advantages on the forehand and serve, shot variety, athleticism, and the ability to handle pressure.

Neither dealt well with the pressure to start the match. Zverev double faulted twice for love-30 and lost his serve when the opportunistic Alcaraz hit a terrific low volley winner and a forehand approach winner.

Perhaps the angst from Zverev’s lingering domestic abuse case, which was settled out of court four days before, or the stress from surviving two five-setters had taken a toll. Alcaraz also looked nervous when he committed three unforced groundstroke errors and a double fault to give away his serve in the next game.

By returning Sascha’s massive first serve from 20 feet behind the baseline — a yard more than Daniil Medvedev’s extremely deep position — Alcaraz blunted its power, which he failed to do at the Australian Open in January during his four-set loss. “That was one of the biggest serving exhibitions I’ve ever seen,” said McEnroe. “And I’ve seen [Pete] Sampras and [Boris] Becker.”

Alcaraz used the smart tactic to break serve twice more to grab the first set 6-3. A lunging backhand volley winner and an improvised swinging forehand volley in the eighth game prompted Carillo to say, “Is there any shot this guy doesn’t have?”

Zverev found his groove in the second set to turn the tide. He struck his forehand with more power and less loopy topspin, while Alcaraz lost concentration, energy, and consistency. Two serve breaks gave the 6’6” German the surprisingly decisive second set, 6-2.

To regain his energy, Carlos drank pickle juice during changeovers. He staved off three break points to take the (seemingly) pivotal seventh game for a 5-2 lead in the pivotal third set. But abruptly and unpredictably, Sascha reversed the momentum again.

Alcaraz played a terrible tactical game serving for the set at 5-3, missing a half volley in no-man’s-land on the first point and rushing the net with a crosscourt approach to Zverev’s strong backhand wing — a double mistake — on break point. At the 5-6 changeover, the Spaniard complained to the umpire, saying there is no clay and it’s playing like a hard court. Gusts blew the top dressing away and took the wind out of his sails. Zverev grabbed the last five games and the third set, 7-5.

Alcaraz quickly reset to reverse the momentum again in the roller coaster match. He reeled off three straight service breaks, the first clinched with a pinpoint forehand passing shot and the second with a cruel drop shot that Zverev didn’t run for. The fickle French fans that chanted for Zverev to ignite his third-set comeback now chanted “Carlos! Carlos!” to boost him.

Ahead 4-0, Alcaraz called for a medical timeout. An ATP physio worked on his left leg while a physician gave him a painkiller.

When Alcaraz served for the set at 5-1 and fell behind 15-40, McEnroe said, “It’s incredibly unpredictable right now.” It didn’t turn out that way as Alcaraz won four straight points to take the 6-1 set.

Alcaraz had the momentum now, but both players had reason to be confident. Alcaraz owned a near-perfect 10-1 record in five-set matches in his young career. Sascha matched that with a 10-1 mark in five-setters at Roland Garros.

“I don’t know who’s going to win,” allowed the usually opinionated McEnroe, adding, “It’s about will now. How much can you suffer and bring your A game?”

Jim Courier, the  Tennis Channel analyst and two-time French Open champion in the 1990s, wouldn’t venture a prediction but stated the key factors. “It will be physical for Alcaraz [referring to his left leg problem] and mental for Zverev [on the scar tissue left from the 2020 US Open final]. So, they’ll both have their challenges.”

Sascha lost the mental game when he lost his serve and fell behind 2-1. Two bad volley errors, a double fault, and an unforced backhand error gave the game away.

Alcaraz, who admires Michael Jordan and tries to emulate the NBA superstar’s clutch play, fought off three break points at 0-40. After he played great defence and then put away a smash on one break point, the crowd rewarded his super hustling with a standing ovation. When he held serve for 3-1 with a perfect drop shot, chants of “Carlos! Carlos!” reverberated around the stadium.

The phenom who, as a boy, idolised Nadal but modelled his game on Federer was now virtually unstoppable. Zverev was down 2-4, love-30 in a must-win game when Alcaraz hit the shot of the match, if not the tournament. After he sprinted across the length of the baseline, he improvised a crosscourt slice backhand passing shot winner with one hand. Zverev shot a long stare toward him that translated to “Did you really make that shot?”

Alcaraz broke serve with his trademark inside-out forehand winner and then routinely held serve for a 3-6, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 triumph and his third Grand Slam title.

After his on-court victory celebration, Alcaraz rushed to the player’s box where his team, family, and friends hugged him. His parents shed tears of joy. His coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, who won Roland Garros in 2003, beamed with pride.

Zverev graciously showered the champion with praise. “He’s a beast. He’s an animal. The intensity he plays tennis at is different to other people. He played fantastic. He played better than me in the fourth and fifth set. It’s how it is. I felt like this Grand Slam final I did everything I could. At the [2020] US Open, I kind of gave it away myself. It’s a bit different [here].”

Alcaraz pointed to his mental fortitude as the key to the deciding set. “You have to give your heart. In those moments, it’s where the top players give their best tennis,” he explained.

“I wanted to be one of the best tennis players in the world, so I have to give extra in those moments in the fifth set, I have to show the opponent that I am fresh, I’m [acting] like we are playing the first game of the match. That works pretty well if the opponents see me that I’m moving well, I’m hitting the good shots, I’m finding good solutions. And of course, mental strength plays a great part in that moment if you want to win the Slams.”

As a reward for winning Slams, Alcaraz gets a tattoo with the date of the final and a symbol of the venue. “Another tattoo with the Eiffel Tower will be soon,” Alcaraz said. “I wanted to win this tournament since I was a little kid, watching since I was five or six years old. This is great for me and something I will enjoy with my people.” The dramatic final overshadowed an even closer and higher-quality semifinal when Alcaraz overcame Sinner 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. It marked the youngest Grand Slam semifinal since Andy Murray defeated Nadal at the 2008 US Open.

The 22-year-old Sinner, the reigning Australian Open champion, was the Tour’s biggest winner this year — 33-2 — and on June 10, took over the No. 1 ranking from Djokovic, who withdrew from Roland Garros due to a torn meniscus after beating Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in a five-set quarterfinal.

During the 2020 pandemic, Ricardo Piatti, then Sinner’s coach, used the break to educate him about the mentality of champions. He had Jannik watch two matches of the legendary Big Three — Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer — every day. Not their best matches, though. These were matches they didn’t play well yet managed to win. The purpose was to teach Sinner how to problem-solve during adversity.

Last year the wiry 6’3’‘ Sinner added seven pounds of muscle to his legs, revamped his service motion, changed his stance from a platform to step-up, and under the tactical tutelage of Darren Cahill, added variety to his previously one-dimensional power game. Both players skipped the Rome Masters — Alcaraz had a forearm injury that required him to wear a long sleeve, and Sinner had a lingering hip injury.

Sinner’s main advantage over the more athletic Alcaraz was on the backhand. Entering the semifinals, Sinner was plus 20 on winner to errors, while Alcaraz was minus 33.

After splitting the first two hard-hitting sets, both players suffered cramps in the third set: Alcaraz’s right hand and Sinner’s right forearm and left thigh. Alcaraz learned from last year’s semifinal loss to Djokovic when he was hobbled by full-body cramps that he had to stay calm and keep fighting. Alcaraz lost the third set 6-3 but converted his only break point with a backhand winner to take the fourth set, 6-4.

The broad-shouldered Spaniard got the only service break of the deciding set (6-3) in the second game thanks to a spectacular backhand passing shot on the dead run and a forehand winner.

As  Tennis Channel analyst Martina Navratilova said, “Carlos played the big points better, was more aggressive and adventurous, had more gas left in his tank, and had more arrows in his quiver.”

Echoing the philosophy of Nadal, Alcaraz viewed his gruelling 4-hour, 9-minute victory in almost life-and-death terms. “You have to find the joy [while] suffering. That’s the key — here at Roland Garros. Long rallies. Four-hour matches. Five sets. You have to fight. You have to suffer. But as I told my team many times, you have to enjoy suffering.”

Whether or not Djokovic wins another major to break the hallowed record of 24 he shares with Margaret Court or captures a gold medal at the Paris Olympics (the only prestigious prize not in his glorious legacy), Alcaraz and Sinner are steadily filling the vacuum left by the Big Three.

On their endearing personalities, exciting playing styles, and budding rivalry, Jim Courier said, “These two players are everything tennis would want them to be.”