Swiatek retains French Open title with tough victory over Muchova

Iga Swiatek of Poland hits a return during the women's singles final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Polish Iga Swiatek pocketed her third French Open singles title after defeating Czech Karolina Muchova.

PARIS, June 10 (Xinhua) -- World No. 1 Iga Swiatek captured her third French Open singles title and second in a row at Roland Garros following a roller-coaster victory over Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic here on Saturday.

It was the fourth Grand Slam trophy overall for Swiatek. The Pole sealed a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory after two hours and 46 minutes in a match that ended with an unexpected double fault from her Czech opponent.

Reaching the final yet to drop a set in the previous six matches, the top seed had to dig deep to withstand a strong fightback from Muchova.

Muchova broke twice for a lead in a back-and-forth decider, only to see the defending champion break back before holding a crucial service in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead. The 22-year-old then surged to 40-15 in the 10th game when Muchova served, and the latter committed a double fault to hand the victory to Swiatek.

Despite her loss at the final hurdle, Muchova had already made a career breakthrough in Paris, as the world No. 43 stunned second seed Aryna Sabalenka to secure her debut in a Grand Slam final. The 26-year-old Czech had shown her resilience in the epic semifinal when she rallied from 5-2 down in the decider to turn the tide and dispatch the reigning Australian Open champion. ■