Iga Swiatek secured back-to-back French Open titles on Saturday after battling past Karolina Muchova in Paris on Saturday.
The world No 1 made a strong start but her opponent fought back to clinch the second set. Swiatek then raised her game in the decider to prevail 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 against the unseeded Czech at Roland Garros.
The Pole who has now won the French Open crown three times in four years. It was also Swiatek's fourth Grand Slam title, with the 22-year-old having also triumphed at the US Open last year.
Muchova has enjoyed a memorable tournament – defeating eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the first round, 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-final and then world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the last four – but Swiatek proved a step too far.
"First of all, congrats to Karolina," Swiatek said. "I really hope we're going to have many more finals. To my team, sorry for being such a pain. I'll try to do better.
"I know that we won this tournament but it's not easy being on tour for a couple of weeks without breaks. I'm really happy we can feel satisfied right now and just celebrate."
She became the first woman since Justine Henin in 2007 to successfully defend her title on the Paris clay and joins Naomi Osaka on four grand slam titles - veteran Venus Williams with seven is the only active player to hold more.
Muchova made too many unforced errors at the start. A second break of serve gave Swiatek the opening set.
When she moved 3-0 ahead again in the second, it seemed Swiatek would complete victory in double quick time. But Muchova dug in and broke Swiatek for the first time in the fifth game with a running forehand.
The Pole suddenly felt the pressure, a double fault handing Muchova the chance to serve for the set.
She could not take it but another shaky game from Swiatek gave her another chance. Muchova clinched her third set point after a stunning all-court rally.
Muchova moved into a 2-0 lead in the decider as Swiatek threatened to implode but the 22-year-old pulled herself together quickly to level.
They exchanged breaks again in the seventh and eighth games, with Muchova unable to pull away, and Swiatek was back to top when she fought off another break point to hold for 5-4.
The pressure of serving to stay in the contest proved too much for Muchova, who made three errors before double-faulting on match point to hand over the title.
"This is incredible, thank you everyone. It's been an amazing three weeks in Paris for me and my team," Muchova said after the match.
"This was so close but yet so far. This happens when you play one of the best. Iga, I want to congratulate you again and your team. To my box, when I look at those people I actually feel like I'm the winner so thank you. I hope this is only the beginning for us. We've come a long way."
