By Sudipto Ganguly
PARIS (Reuters) – Iga Swiatek is dynamite on court and the fireworks have just started, her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski said on Saturday after the world number one clinched her second Grand Slam title at the French Open.
The 21-year-old Swiatek crushed American Coco Gauff 6-1 6-3 in a ruthless display in Saturday’s final at Court Philippe Chatrier to win her second Roland Garros title in 20 months.
Wiktorowski joined the Pole’s team after Swiatek split with long-time coach Piotr Sierzputowski at the end of last year and she has been on an incredible run in 2022.
“From the very beginning we decided to focus on her strengths, the tools she was using was amazing,” Wiktorowski told reporters.
“She’s a dynamite on court. We decided to push her a little forward, do couple of things on her serve and return. But it’s just the beginning of this journey, we have much more to do.
“Every single tournament brings us new information, we will keep an eye on those strength and we will try to develop other tools.”
Swiatek made the semi-finals of the WTA 500 event in Adelaide before reaching the same stage in the year’s opening Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January.
When she was knocked out in the last 16 of the Dubai Championships in February, there was no hint of what would come next.
Since then she has won 35 consecutive matches — equalling the longest unbeaten streak since Venus Williams in 2000. When she hoisted the Suzanne Lenglen Cup on Saturday, it was her sixth consecutive trophy, a run that has included four WTA 1000 titles.
“To be honest, we did not count the victories,” Wiktorowski said. “We live day by day, just the next match is important for us. This is the best way, to take everything step-by-step, one at a time.
“Just take the conclusion from the last match or the last couple of days and put it to court and practise the way and then these kind of amazing things can happen. This is my philosophy.”
After sealing the final against Gauff on her first match point, Swiatek ran to her box to celebrate with her support team, hugging everyone around.
Wiktorowski credited her entire team for the success and said it was a very proud and emotional moment for them.
“I just want to keep those emotions for the rest of the day and probably for the next days,” he said. “She deserves, and we deserve as well, couple of days off. I just want to stay with those emotions for a little bit longer.”
Swiatek has won both of her majors on clay and she will soon have to switch her focus on keeping up her unbeaten run on grass, with the Wimbledon starting from June 27.
Having already proved earlier in the season that she has the game to dominate on hardcourts, Swiatek will be eager to prove her mettle on grass next.
“In the short-term, as she celebrates, she is going to be thinking about Wimbledon,” said Eurosport tennis analyst Chris Evert, who won seven of her 18 majors at Roland Garros.
“It’s only three weeks away, I hope she takes a week off and does nothing to get the body fresh and then get onto the grass.”
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
