Swiatek takes on teenager Gauff in French Open final

Saturday, 4 June 2022 00:48 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

PARIS (Reuters): Iga Swiatek is one step away from a second French Open title in three years but the world number one will face a unique challenge on Saturday in teenager Coco Gauff in a tournament that often proved unpredictable.

Poland’s Swiatek is on a remarkable 34-match winning streak and should the 2020 Roland Garros champion lift the Suzanne Leglen Cup again, she will match Venus Williams’s run from 2000 – the longest on the women’ tour in the 2000s.

Her final record is also impressive as the 21-year-old has won the last eight finals she has played, losing more than four games only twice in those matches.

She has a unique game, with her light footwork, powerful forehand and unsettling slice proving a nightmare to handle as her opponents during this fortnight have realised.

Swiatek has only dropped one set and showed occasional signs of nerves before steamrolling Daria Kasatkina in the semi-finals in an awe-inspiring demonstration of mastery.

Nerves have often been a deciding factor in finals but there is little chance that Swiatek, who has been working with a psychologist, will struggle with her composure.