PARIS (Reuters) – Factbox on Iga Swiatek, who beat Karolina Muchova 6-2 5-7 6-4 on Saturday to win the French Open, her fourth Grand Slam title.
Age: 22
Nation: Poland
WTA ranking: 1
Seeding: 1
Grand Slam titles: 4 (French Open 2020, 2022, 2023; U.S. Open 2022)
ROAD TO FINAL
First round: Cristina Bucsa (Spain) 6-4 6-0
Second round: Claire Liu (United States) 6-4 6-0
Third round: Wang Xinyu (China) 6-0 6-0
Fourth round: Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 5-1 walkover
Quarter-final: 6-Coco Gauff (United States) 6-4 6-2
Semi-final: 14-Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil) 6-2 7-6(7)
EARLY LIFE
* Born in Warsaw. Her father Tomasz is a former Olympic rower, who competed in the men’s quadruple sculls at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
* Swiatek started playing tennis in an attempt to emulate her older sister, who competed briefly on the junior circuit.
* Swiatek helped Poland lift the Junior Fed Cup title in 2016 before winning Junior Wimbledon in 2018, the same year she secured the gold medal with Kaja Juvan in doubles at the Youth Olympics.
CAREER TO DATE
* Began her professional career on the ITF Circuit in 2016 and won all seven singles finals she contested over the next two years.
* Made her first Grand Slam main draw appearance at the 2019 Australian Open and defeated Ana Bogdan in the opening round before losing to Camila Giorgi.
* Had her breakthrough that year, reaching her first WTA final at the Ladies Open in Lugano. Despite losing to Polona Hercog, Swiatek entered the top 100 for the first time.
* Advanced to the fourth round of the 2019 French Open in her second major tournament, losing to defending champion Simona Halep.
* Defeated Sofia Kenin in the 2020 French Open final to become the youngest women’s Roland Garros champion since Monica Seles in 1992. She did not drop a set throughout the claycourt major.
* Won her first WTA 1000 title at the 2021 Italian Open in Rome and broke into the top 10 for the first time, finishing the year as world number four. She was also the only player to reach the second week at all four Grand Slams in 2021.
* Rose to world number one in April 2022 after the retirement of Ash Barty.
* Won five straight WTA titles – Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart and Rome – before claiming her second French Open title to extend her winning run to 35 matches.
* Her win streak ended at 37 matches after losing at Wimbledon but she bounces back to win the U.S. Open, her first hardcourt Grand Slam title.
* In 2023, she played two consecutive claycourt finals against world number two Aryna Sabalenka in the buildup to the French Open, winning in Stuttgart but losing in Madrid.
* Defends her French Open crown after dropping only one set at the tournament.
(Compiled by Hritika Sharma and Rohith Nair, editing by Ed Osmond)
