How Iga Swiatek won the 2022 French Open -- and why she could dominate for the foreseeable future

The tennis world was riveted by Iga Swiatek for over an hour.

Swiatek won the women's singles title at the French Open on Saturday, defeating Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 and becoming the first woman from Poland to win the title.

She didn't look back after taking the first four games.

Swiatek's second major title and her 35th straight victory tied her with Venus Williams for the longest winning streak of the millennium.

She has not lost a match in over a month.

She told Maria Taylor that she needed everything to have that streak. I needed to be mentally and physically prepared because I had many long matches. I realized how to be more aggressive on the tennis court. All of it is coming together.

Swiatek won five titles this year, four of which were at the 1000 level. She has more points than anyone else since she took over the top ranking in April.

"What you've done on tour the past couple of months has truly been amazing, and you deserve it," Gauff said as he presented the trophy. We can play each other in more finals and I can beat you.

She was a virtual unknown when she arrived in Paris. She stunned the field and won the tournament, despite being ranked SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA was SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA was SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA was SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA SALVAGEDATA

Swiatek left Paris as the dominant force in women's tennis and one who is poised for future greatness less than two years later. Since Serena Williams was in her prime, only a few superstars have been able to compete for major titles on different surfaces.

"She's hitting another level than we are right now," said Jessica, who lost to Swiatek in the quarterfinals. It's a bit frightening.

Naomi Osaka, a four-time major champion, told reporters that she had a dream in which she had to play Swiatek in the first round.

"I was scared because I was thinking who is the worst player to play when I'm unseeded," Osaka said. I thought of her. I would like to thank God that didn't happen.

"Any contender to win this championship wanted to be in the bottom half of the draw and away from Iga," said Pam Shriver.

The shortest straw was drawn by Lesia Tsurenko. She was defeated in the opening round by a score of 6-2, 6-0. Swiatek's opponents didn't fare as well.

In the fourth round, Swiatek lost to 19-year-old Qinwen Zheng, who went on to win the title. She lost just eight games to the two Russians. The matches took less than an hour to complete.

She is off the charts in terms of her athletic ability. I think her defense is really, really, really good, like an Ashleigh Barty type of defense, where they can get in the corners, dig out the points, and then take the racket out of your hands. She's gotten more aggressive this year and she's gotten more offensive.

Reunited 🧡#RolandGarros | @iga_swiatek pic.twitter.com/Prn3KpaCL2

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2022

Gauff was nervous in her first major final and struggled from the beginning. Swiatek pounced immediately on her opponent's nerves and unforced errors. Swiatek never appeared frustrated nor let herself lose focus after Gauff broke her in the opening game of the second set. She won five games in a row.

The ease of most of her matches has impressed me the most. Iga overcame the stress in Paris with great play.

Swiatek had achieved modest success in her first year on tour, with a fourth-round appearance atRoland Garros and her first WTA final appearance. She was increasing her rank. She showed the world how good she could be when she was an unseeded player at the French Open.

Swiatek dominated the field, allowing no opponent to win more than five games, and took down top-seeded Simona Halep in just over an hour in the fourth round. She became the first Polish player to win a Grand Slam singles title when she defeated Kenin in the final.

The way she's playing right now, it would be hard to imagine she wouldn't win half a dozen majors. He was excited about her future.

Swiatek was a student of the game and knew it would be difficult. She was the fifth straight first-time major champion in the women's draw and she had seen other women struggle to follow in her footsteps.

The 19-year-old didn't make any McEnroe-like promises after her biggest win. She was candid about her hopes for the future, but she knew what she needed to do.

Swiatek told reporters that his game isn't perfect. Consistency is the biggest change for me. This is what women's tennis is going through. We have a lot of new Grand Slam winners because we are not as consistent as others.

I want to be consistent. It will be difficult to achieve that.

She didn't achieve that immediately, although she was the only woman to reach the second week at all four majors, but this season, Swiatek has been the textbook definition of consistency. Since reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, she has been absolutely flawless.

She might have been on her way to the world No. 1 ranking anyway, but she got a surprise assist from Barty when she decided to retire. Swiatek would become the new king.

Just after Barty's revelation, four-time major doubles champion Rennae Stubbs saw Swiatek in the parking lot. She couldn't help but acknowledge the occasion as she walked into the facility with her coach.

"There's a new No. 1," he told her.

Swiatek made a face that was almost as if she wasn't comfortable with it.

She's shown she's not just content at the top. She wanted to show that she was there.

SwiaTEK won in Miami. Since then, she has won everywhere. Her fans love her eclectic taste in pump-up music and extensive reading list.

She wore a Ukrainian flag pin on her match hat for most of the Russian invasion and acknowledged the ongoing conflict in her victory speech Saturday.

Swiatek emerged with the Suzanne Lenglen cup Saturday and many believe that was a preview of the next decade in professional tennis.

Two young, terrific tennis players and even better people are what they are described to be. Hopefully we're going to see this final many, many times over the next 10 years and this will start a rivalry. Let us all know that they are here to stay, that's what they did by reaching the final. I adore both of them. It's great for the future of women's tennis.

Swiatek will be keeping an eye on her as the season progresses. She has never played at Wimbledon before. She won the junior title at the All England Club last year. She is the favorite to win the title despite not having much experience.

Other players might be made to fall by that kind of expectations. Swiatek has not shown that yet. She said the pressure has made her realize how much she can handle.

She said that she felt like the sky was the limit for her. I think I've proven myself.