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Key events
Swiatek* 4-2 Paolini (*denotes next server) The commentators wonder whether Paolini has the reservers to play at this level for three sets. Men dressed in cotton T-shirts that make up the Italian flag stand up and cheer but they can’t carry Paolini through her service game and she finishes with a double fault.
Swiatek 3-2 Paolini* (*denotes next server) A huge rally (25 shots) to start the game which Swiatek wins with a backhand cross-court winner to eventually beats the tenacious Paolini. Quickly has three break points but loses the first with another uncharacteristically wild forehand. Collects the game when Paolini goes long.
Swiatek* 2-2 Paolini (*denotes next server) Swiatek in a tie-dye style dress soaks up the pressure and breaks back to love.
Swiatek 1-2 Paolini* (*denotes next server) Paolini has the crowd on side, and a couple of unforced errors suggests it might be getting to Swiatek – going love 30 down on her own serve. A huge rally follows which Paolini sets up with drop shot. She has two break points, another mistake from Swiatek and all of a sudden Paolini has the early break!
Swiatek* 1-1 Paolini (*denotes next server) An excellent start from Paolini, moving confidently and hitting with purpose. Goes 40-0 up, but Swiatek drags it back to deuce and then to advantage with tenacity and a couple of huge cross court forehands. Paolini saves one break point and goes on to take the game when Swiatek hits long.
Swiatek 1-0 Paolini* (*denotes next server) Swiatek wins the first two points, Paolini gets on the board with a backhand from the edge of the tramlines and down the line . Swiatek responds with an excellent serve. Two game points for Swiatek, she wins the second with an ace.
Big cheers for both players as they warm up, Swiatek in a white baseball cap, Paolini’s pony tail bouncing perkily. “Iga Swiatek has never lost a Grand Slam final,” say the commentators, “Jasmine Paolini has never won one.” Swiatek to serve first.
Three minutes left of warm-up on Court Philippe Chatrier. There is very little wind today to complement the cloudless skies.
In a victory for little women everywhere, Paolini is only five foot four, while Swiatek stands at five feet nine.
Tim Henman is analysing the Paolini game. “Her return of serve is going to be critical today. Against Rybakina, her return point was extremely varied and she gets the ball deep, neutralising the serve.”
And here come the players, Paolini bouncy and smiling, Swiatek in headphones and also smiling.
With the sun out in Paris and the players due on court in less than ten minutes, here is Tumaini’s preview:
Head to heads
Swiatek and Paolini have met twice in the past, Swaitek winning both games. Swiatek, aged just 17, won 6-2, 6-1 in a 2018 Czech ITF challenger and in 2022 won 6-3, 6-0 en route to the US Open title.
A late bloomer: Jasmine Paolini
It seems outrageous to call a 28 year old sapling a late bloomer but, in tennis terms, Paolini is. Up until the beginning of this year, she had only won four Grand Slam matches from a total of 16.
2024, however, has seen something of a turnaround. She reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, danced in the top 20 after winning the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championship and has now clawed her way into the French Open Final. “ To dream,” she told the crowd after winning her semi-final, “is the most important thing in sport.”
Trivia fact – both finalists speak Polish, as Paolini’s mother has Polish heritage and spoke Polish to her at home.
Eyes on Swiatek
At just 23, Swiatek has played in four Grand Slam finals – and won all of them. She was triumphant at the US Open in 2022 and at Roland-Garros in 2020, 2022 and 2023. And has won 20 consecutive matches on the Paris clay.
Lindsay Davenport was pretty blunt on the Tennis Channel: “Iga Swiatek is as big a favorite as you could possibly be in a Grand Slam final.
Naomi Osaka did test her properly in the third round, losing 7-6, 1-6, 7-5, something to give a glimmer of hope to Paolini. Here is Tuamaini Carayol’s report of that game:
Preamble
Good afternoon! Welcome to our coverage of the women’s singles final between Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini in Paris. The No. 1 seed’s arrival in the final is no surprise – the queen of clay has been in majestic form since coming back from match point against Naomi Osaka in the third round, and is now on course to become only the third woman to win three successive French titles in the open era – after Justine Henin. and Monica Seles
Paolini’s position the other side of the net is more of an eye-opener, having never previously gone beyond the second round in Paris. At 28, she is finally finding her wings. Can she overturn the odds and defeat Swiatek? We will find out soon.
Play starts at 2pm BST.
