“To play you here is the toughest challenge,” Jasmine Paolini all praise for Iga Swiatek after losing to her in straight sets at Roland Garros Finals

Iga Swiatek eased past Jasmine Paolini in straight sets at the 2024 Roland Garros final.

“To play you here is the toughest challenge,” Jasmine Paolini all praise for Iga Swiatek after losing to her in straight sets at Roland Garros Finals

Jasmine Paolini and Iga Swiatek (via IMAGO)

For a long time now, playing Rafael Nadal, whom Iga Swiatek idolises, at the French Open has been one of the biggest tests in sport. With her triumphant runs at Roland Garros in the last five years, Iga Swiatek is quickly gaining on her idol in terms of clay court dominance.

She has now achieved a 94.6% win rate at the French Open, just 2% short of Nadal’s. This has earned her the title of ‘Queen of Clay’ and also inspired her fellow competitors, as evident in Jasmine Paolini’s speech after the final. Paolini believes playing Iga Swiatek in Roland Garros is the biggest challenge in tennis at the moment.

YouTube video
Thanks for coming. I really enjoyed playing on this court. Congratulations to you Iga. To play you here is the toughest challenge in this sport. Congrats to your team. You’re doing an amazing job. World No.1. Many slams. Congratulations.
Jasmine Paolini during the presentation ceremony

Paolini had only good things to say about the World No. 1 in her speech, after a tough loss against her in the biggest match of her career. Swiatek halted the in-form Paolini in her tracks and claimed her fourth Roland Garros title today. Despite drawing the short end of the stick and being an underdog, Paolini displayed a positive attitude and was cheered on by the crowd.

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Iga Swiatek cements herself at the top of the rankings ladder while Coco Gauff reaches a new career high

With three consecutive tournament victories, all of which were of the highest level, Iga Swiatek amassed 4000 ranking points in just the last 6 weeks. This unprecedented achievement has put her almost 5000 ranking points ahead of the world no. 2, which will be Coco Gauff after the rankings are updated on Monday.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek (Images via Imago)

Swiatek has also almost confirmed the year-end No.1 ranking for herself as she has fewer points to defend throughout the rest of the season than her competitors like Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka. She has also qualified for the WTA Finals even before the start of the grass season, which is an incredible achievement in itself.

Coco Gauff, too, had an impressive performance at the French Open despite a rocky start to the season. She will now overtake Aryna Sabalenka in the rankings to reach a new career-high rank of World No.2 at just 20 years of age. She will also move up the doubles rankings, having made it to the final in Roland Garros with partner Katerina Siniakova.

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