Top-ranked Sabalenka ends Swiatek's 26-match French Open win streak

Howard Fendrich · The Associated Press

· Posted: Jun 05, 2025 1:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka ended Iga Swiatek's 26-match French Open unbeaten streak and reached the last successful Paris for the archetypal clip by utilizing her axenic powerfulness to predominate down the agelong and triumph their semifinal 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 connected Thursday.

Sabalenka's triumph prevented Swiatek from becoming the archetypal pistillate to triumph 4 consecutive championships astatine the clay-court Grand Slam tourney since professionals were admitted successful 1968.

It besides gives Sabalenka a accidental to triumph her 4th large title, and archetypal distant from hard courts, aft 2 astatine the Australian Open and 1 astatine the U.S. Open.

"It feels incredible, but I besides recognize that the occupation is not done yet," said Sabalenka, a 27-year-old from Belarus who took the apical WTA ranking from Swiatek past October. "She's the toughest opponent, particularly connected the clay, particularly astatine Roland-Garros. I'm arrogant that I was capable to get this win. It was a pugnacious match, but I managed it, somehow."

Sabalenka volition look No. 2 Coco Gauff oregon 361st-ranked French wild-card introduction Lois Boisson successful the last connected Saturday.

In a motion to Boisson's presumption arsenic the location favourite, Sabalenka joked to the assemblage during her post-match interview: "I'm beauteous definite you're going to beryllium cheering for 1 idiosyncratic similar crazy, and I'm not definite if I truly privation her to win."

Most singular astir Sabalenka's triumph Saturday, perhaps, was the mode  -her backmost dotted with flecks of the rust-colored clay - she dominated successful crunch time, racing done the past set.

"I mean, 6-love," she said. "What tin I say? Couldn't beryllium much cleanable than that."

Swiatek's explanation?

"I mislaid my strength a bit," she said. "Just couldn't propulsion back."

Terrific stretches of tennis

With the Court Philippe-Chatrier extortion closed connected a drizzly day, determination was nary upwind oregon different elements for the players to confront, and some produced immoderate terrific tennis for stretches. But successful the end, the quality was that erstwhile Sabalenka decided to plaything away, she rushed Swiatek into mistakes.

This stat says it all: The 3rd acceptable included 12 unforced errors disconnected Swiatek's racket, and zero disconnected Sabalenka's.

This continues a unsmooth agelong for Swiatek, a 24-year-old from Poland, who has not adjacent reached a last astatine immoderate tourney since walking distant with her 3rd trophy successful a enactment - and 5th Grand Slam rubric wide - from Paris 12 months ago. She precocious slid to No. 5 successful the rankings.

Her rut includes a astonishing exit successful the semifinals astatine the 2024 Summer Olympics, which were contested astatine Roland-Garros; she ended up with the bronze medal. Then, aboriginal past season, she was banned for a period aft investigating affirmative for a banned substance; her mentation was accepted that the effect was unintentional and caused by a contaminated medicine.

Sabalenka is, unquestionably, arsenic bully arsenic it gets successful women's tennis close now.

Even earlier getting to this final, her six appearances successful rubric matches this twelvemonth were the astir for a pistillate entering the French Open since Serena Williams successful 2013.

And her first-strike tennis, ever specified a menace connected faster surfaces, is intelligibly rather utile connected the slower clay, too. On Saturday, the thuds generated by her interaction with the shot reverberated disconnected the wrong of the retractable roof.

"She didn't doubt," Swiatek said. "She conscionable went for it."

Even though Sabalenka broke successful the archetypal crippled and soon led 4-1 -- astatine which constituent Swiatek was glancing up astatine her coach, Wim Fissette, successful the stands, hoping for immoderate benignant of penetration that could alteration things -- this was not one-way traffic. Swiatek ended up starring 5-4 successful that set, but erstwhile they got to the tiebreaker, Sabalenka asserted herself.

Swiatek took a lengthy travel to the locker country earlier the 2nd set, thing she often does aft ceding one, and came retired playing better, rapidly breaking to 1-0.

The 15,000 oregon truthful spectators seemed chiefly to beryllium pulling for Swiatek, possibly hoping to spot a spot of history, and broke into chants of "I-ga!" alternatively frequently. That mightiness person rubbed Sabalenka the incorrect way, due to the fact that aft striking a instrumentality winner, she windmilled her arms astatine the mild reaction, arsenic if to say, "Hey! I'm here, too! And I'm No. 1. How astir sending immoderate enactment this way?"