Iga Swiatek left disappointed after receiving French Open winners’ trophy

Iga Swiatek was left underwhelmed at Roland Garros this weekend despite winning a fourth French Open title. The world No.1 continued her clay court dominance on Saturday by comfortably beating Italian 12th seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2 6-1 on Saturday, taking just 68 minutes to secure a fifth Grand Slam win.

The Polish star hit back after trailing by an early break, winning 11 of the next 12 games to utterly dominate the final.

At just 23, she has now joined Monica Seles and Justine Henin as the only player to have claimed a ‘three-peat’ in France in the women’s singles since the Open era began in 1968, having followed up her 2020 success with victory in 2022, 2023, and now 2024.

However, Swiatek was still disappointed after being presented with another Suzanne-Lenglen cup. After being handed the silverware, she made a point of lifting the lid and checking inside, only to smile ruefully when she discovered it was empty.

Her actions relate back to her only Slam win to come outside of Paris, at the 2022 US Open. After beating Ons Jabeur in the final at Flushing Meadows, Swiatek was encouraged to check inside the trophy during her post-match press conference.

To her surprise, hidden inside was an Italian tiramisu pudding. She famously reacted by saying “Wow, who did that? Thank you guys, thank you. I really appreciate that.”

Organisers in France however, are yet to follow suit. And Swiatek jokingly feigned a glum face when she realised there was no sweet treat for her included with the trophy.

But she cut a more serious figure when addressing the media moments later. Swiatek was just a point away from going out of the tournament during a second round match with Naomi Osaka, and claimed the fortnight had proved a stressful ordeal.

“When I talk about pressure, I usually put pressure on myself because of pressure of the outside,” she said. “Obviously I'm a perfectionist, so there is always pressure, like, behind me.

“But I think I'm fine with, like, handling my own pressure. It's when the pressure from the outside hits me, then it's a little bit worse. But I managed it really well at this tournament.”

Swiatek’s dominance is such on clay that she is already being touted to rival Rafa Nadal’s career total of 14 French Open titles. She has now won 21 matches in a row at the tournament, the fourth longest streak in women's singles.