During the women's final trophy presentation, runner-up Jasmine Paolini began with an admission most the of tennis world would agree with.

"To play you here is the toughest challenge in this sport."

The Italian was of course congratulating Iga Swiatek, who is now a four-time Roland-Garros champion.

The world No.1 hasn't lost a match in Paris since 2021; Swiatek is being hailed the 'Queen of clay' and is joining all-time greats with her on-court accomplishments. 

"It means a lot. This tournament has been pretty surreal with the second round, and then I was able to get my game better and better every match," she said.

"I'm really proud of myself, because the expectations obviously have been pretty high from the outside. Pressure, as well. I'm happy that I just went for it and I was ready to deal with all of this."

Dealing with the outside noise, the hype, the expectations to roll opponents on the terre battue, is an evolving process for the now five-time major winner.

On Saturday Swiatek’s dominance bubbled over as she wrapped up her latest coup de grace in Court Phillipe-Chatrier, powering past Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 to become the first woman to win three consecutive women’s singles titles at Porte d’Auteuil since Justine Henin in 2007. 

“I love this place, honestly,” Swiatek said as she held the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen in her arms and broke into tears. “I wait every year to come back here. 

“I was almost out of the tournament in the second round, so thank you guys for having my back and cheering for me, I also needed to believe that this moment was possible.” 

With the victory, Swiatek becomes the youngest player in history to claim four Roland-Garros women’s singles titles (the only player to do it before turning 25), and the sixth youngest woman in history to claim five Grand Slam singles titles. 

In 2020, Swiatek won her maiden title in Paris, becoming the lowest-ranked champion in Open era history (at No.54 in the rankings) and the youngest champion since Monica Seles since 1992. 

Four years later she continues her reign as the world’s top player – and most formidable on the Parisian clay – by notching her 21st consecutive victory at Roland-Garros. 

Story of the match 

It was a hopeful start for the 28-year-old Italian in her first Grand Slam final, as she broke for a 2-1 lead in the opening minutes of the match and displayed pitch-perfect tennis in doing so. 

But the wind was quickly taken from her sails by the all-out attack of the world No.1, who launched into her shots with exceptional verve and seemed to be everywhere at once to deny everything Paolini could throw at her. 

No player is better versed at putting her opponent in a state of emergency like Swiatek on her beloved red clay, and the No.12 seed soon began to buckle under the weight of the Pole’s relentless barrage of groundstrokes. 

“I think to play you here is the toughest challenge in our sport,” Paolini said as she accepted her runner-up trophy. “But I think I really enjoyed the match – it was important to step on the court and enjoy the moment, because it’s a good moment for me.” 

Paolini, who had never been beyond the second round in Paris prior to this season, will rise to a career-high of No.7 in the WTA rankings on Monday.