(Paris) Four years have passed since Karolina Muchova beat Iga Swiatek in their only confrontation, four years during which their paths have diverged: it is in the well-established world No.1 in the elite that the Pole will face the Czech in search of glory.
In 2019 in Prague, Muchova, who had received an invitation, won in three sets in the first round against the Pole who had gone through the qualifications. A few months later, Swiatek made a name for himself by winning his first Roland-Garros to everyone’s surprise, without losing a single set of the tournament.
Then the Pole benefited from the retirement of Australian world No.1 Ashleigh Barty to settle at the top of the hierarchy, a place where she asserted herself by achieving a phenomenal 2022 season with (eight titles, including a new Roland-Garros and one of the United States Open).
The Czech, on the other hand, suffered multiple injuries (back, abdominals, ankle) and plunged in the standings to reach 235th place last August, when her opponent on Saturday was at the height of her dominance.
Swiatek remembers this first match well in Prague because at the time she did not feel “necessarily in (her) place” and she remembers that Muchova had “played very well”.
Now, the 21-year-old feels very much in her place and very legitimate in her quest for a fourth Grand Slam title, the third in Paris.
“I’m a better player. I have progressed in all areas, whether it’s tennis, mentally, tactically, physically, I have more experience…”, she says.
Even if his defeat in the round of 16 in January in Australia, against future finalist Elena Rybakina, who has established herself in recent months as one of her main opponents on the circuit, remains in her throat.
“Since then, I have completely changed my mindset to become more efficient and calmer,” she explains, further emphasizing feeling better on clay than on hard.
“I have more weapons than on fast surfaces. I try to use that confidence to concentrate better, which allows me to play better,” she said.
Opposite, she will therefore have neither Rybakina nor the Belarusian Sabalenka (2nd), the only two players to have beaten her this year (with the exception of Krejcikova in the final in Dubai), but the unexpected Muchova and her atypical game that she says she “enjoys a lot”.
“She has a very good touch on the ball, she is able to speed up the game, she has great freedom of movement and excellent technique”, summarizes Swiatek who says he has shared many training sessions with his next opponent.
She is coming back from difficult years, and in particular the period 2021-2022 when an abdominal injury kept her out for several months and at Roland-Garros in May 2022, her first Major since the International States United 2021, she injured her ankle again in the third round after having beaten the world No.4 and outgoing semi-finalist Maria Sakkari in second place.
So much so that after his semi-final in Australia in 2021, the ex-19th at the WTA will play his first Grand Slam final at the age of 26: “a dream”, but “everything comes on time”, philosopher-t- She.
“I’ve had tough times in the past. So I appreciate this moment all the more,” she says.
To reach the final, she played two of her six matches in three sets, including the grueling half against Sabalenka, while Swiatek again reached the final without losing a single set and inflicting a total of four 6- 0 to his opponents in the first three rounds before benefiting from the abandonment of Tsurenko in the first set in the 8th. In total, Muchova spent 12:04 hours battling, while Swiatek took 7:41 to complete the same course.
Still, the Czech has one strong stat in her favour: she has never lost to a top-3 player in the world. From there to making it the favorite?
” I do not think so ! I didn’t know that stat, but that’s good. It proves that I am capable of playing against them”, analyzes Muchova who sees only one solution to lift the trophy on Saturday: “to play the perfect match”.
