Top seed and two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek takes on 12th seed Jasmine Paolini in women’s final of French Open 2024 at Roland Garros, Paris on Saturday.
The clash is set to take place on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Preview
Iga Swiatek is just one win away from clinching three straight French Open titles, something no woman has achieved since Justine Henin did the three-peat from 2005-07.
Standing between Swiatek and her place in history is a 5’4” Italian named Jasmine Paolini.
It’s a final not many could have predicted since the 28-year-old Paolini had not even made it past the second round of a Major before this year. But the 12th seed has played some inspired tennis this season.
She won the Dubai Masters in February, the biggest title of her career.
Records on offer
Swiatek
She could become the first women’s player to win three consecutive titles at Roland Garros since Justine Henin (2005 – 2007) and only the third player to do it after Monica Seles (1990-92)
She could be the youngest player to win three consecutive titles at Roland Garros since Monica Seles between 1990-92
She could be the first player to win three consecutive titles at a single Grand Slam event since Serena Williams at US Open between 2012-2014
She could become only the second player to claim tournament victory at Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros in a calendar year after Serena Williams (2013)
At 23 years 9 days, she is looking to become the youngest player in the Open Era to secure their fourth Women’s Singles title at Roland Garros
She is looking to become the sixth youngest player in the Open Era to secure their fifth Women’s Singles Grand Slam title
Paolini
She could become only the second Italian woman in history to win the title after Francesca Schiavone (2010)
If she wins both singles and doubles titles, she could become only the eighth woman to achieve the feat at Roland Garros after Billie Jean King (1972), Margaret Smith (1973), Chris Evert (1974-75), Virginia Ruzici (1978), Martina Navratilova (1982, 1984) Mary Pierce (2000) and Barbora Krejcikova (2021)
In the last two weeks, she has shown that even if she doesn’t have a great serve, she can make up for it with a strong forehand and her speed. Her wins over Bianca Andreescu in third round and Elina Avanesyan in round of 16 were impressive but the way she knocked out fourth seed Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals made her a genuine title contender. Her semifinal victory over Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva further highlighted the fact that she is high on confidence and genuinely believes she has a chance to win the whole thing.
For Swiatek, it has been another great season on clay. While she did lose to Rybakina in the semifinals of Stuttgart Open, she bounced back to win back-to-back titles in Madrid and Rome, beating World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the final both times.
However, her French Open title defence could have ended in the first week of the tournament itself when she faced a match point against former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka in the second round. But current World No. 1 Swiatek overcame that blip and since then, has cruised through her matches against Marie Bouzkova, Anastasia Potapova, Marketa Vondrousova and Coco Gauff. The win over Bouzkova was particularly special for Swiatek as it came on her 23rd birthday. She demolished Potapova 6-0, 6-0 in just 40 minutes and followed it up with wins over reigning Wimbledon champion Vondrousova and US Open champion Gauff, both in straight sets.
Swiatek on clay is a deadly combination and it is going to be an enormous task for Paolini to upset her but Karoline Muchova almost did it during last year’s final when she led Swiatek during the third set.
Paolini is set to make her Top 10 debut in the upcoming WTA Rankings. She has already ended a long wait for Italy by becoming the first woman from her country to reach the final in Paris since her current doubles partner Sara Errani finished runner-up 12 years ago. It remains to be seen if she can join 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone as the only Italian women to have lifted the trophy.
When and where to watch?
French Open 2024 final between Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini is set to begin around 6:30PM IST on Saturday, June 8. You can watch the live telecast of the French Open on the Sony Sports Network and stream the matches live on SonyLiv and JioTV.
Head-to-head record
When it comes to head-to-head record, Swiatek leads Paolini 2-0. They first faced each other in an ITF event in Prague six years ago, which remains their only meeting on clay. The next time they played against each other was during the first round of a title-winning run for Swiatek at the 2022 US Open.
Played:2 | Swiatek: 2 | Paolini: 0
| YEAR | TOURNAMENT | ROUND | WINNER | SCORE |
| 2022 | US OPEN | FIRST | SWIATEK | 6-3, 6-0 |
| 2018 | ITF PRAGUE | SECOND | SWIATEK | 6-2, 6-1 |
Route to final
Swiatek
Semifinal:- Beat [3] Coco Gauff (USA) 6-2, 6-4
Quarterfinal: Beat [5] Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) 6-0, 6-2
Round of 16: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Round of 32: Beat Marie Bouzkova (CZE) 6-4, 6-2
Round of 64: Beat Naomi Osaka (JPN) 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5
Round of 128: Beat [Q] Leolia Jeanjean (FRA) 6-1, 6-2
Paolini
Semifinal: Beat Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-1
Quarterfinal: Beat [4] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Round of 16: Beat Elina Avanesyan 4-6, 6-0, 6-1
Round of 32: Beat Bianca Andreescu (CAN) 6-1, 3-6, 6-0
Round of 64: Beat [Q] Hailey Baptiste (USA) 6-4, 7-6(6)
Round of 128: Beat Daria Saville (AUS) 6-3, 6-4
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